Eyes of Darkness
by oni spiritus
Summary: When his eyes are destroyed he recieves a bloodline not seen outside of Makai. Naruto x Haku.
1. Chapter 1

A young woman knelt next to an unconscious boy tending to his injuries while he recovered from the battle that raged two days prior. With utmost care she took the small towel from his head, and rewet it before ringing the excess water out, and placing it on his forehead. Gently she ran her fingers over his whisker-like scars on his cheeks as she remembered how she had met the boy, as well as how she had found herself falling for him. 'His smile is like a ray of sunshine. It brings such a feeling of warmth that I can't help but feel safe with him.' She smiled softly remembering how her heart jumped when he smiled at her that day in the woods. The smile faded though as she remembered the battle on the bridge, and the look in his eyes when he thought she had killed his teammate. Tears filled her eyes as the image of his eyes filled with such pain and sorrow filled her vision, and she vowed to herself to never allow him to feel that way again even if it cost her life. So caught up in her thoughts about the boy that she was growing to love more each day she failed to notice her father figure standing in the doorway behind her.

"Haku, you need to get some rest yourself. Come downstairs to eat." He said gruffly even though worry could be seen in his eyes.

Startled by the sound of his voice she quickly wiped her face before responding without moving from her spot next to the boy. "I can't leave Naruto-kun. He needs me to take care of him, Zabuza-sama." Using actions to illustrate her point she took the towel from Naruto's head to rewet it, and wring it out before placing it gently back on his forehead.

Zabuza sighed not wanting to deal with the emotional fluff. "Haku, are you disobeying me?" He said in a cold voice normally reserved for people that were about to die.

The girl flinched upon hearing this, and balled her hands on her legs causing the fabric of the kimono to bunch up. With her eyes locked on the sleeping face before her, she spoke in a quite but firm voice. "If I must, Zabuza-sama. Naruto-kun not only saved your life and mine, he spared me when he was well within his right to kill me." Her voice grew softer as she continued to speak even as it was filled with growing determination. "He is a great man that should be cared for, and even revered if for no other reason than the size of his heart. He has overcome hardships even greater than my own, and has not only survived, but has stayed true to himself where almost anyone else would have been lost." A smile graced her soft lips as she gently placed her hand on his face. "I can never repay him for what he has done for us, Otou-san."

The large man rubbed his forehead knowing she wouldn't leave his side willingly. Deciding to make this easy on himself he walked over and started to drag Haku out of the room by the back of her kimono. "This is for your own good, Haku. He'll be fine for a while without you after all there are 4 other ninja in this house."

Haku struggled to no avail in Zabuza's grip, and let out a yell as even holding onto the doorframe was futile. "OTOU-SAN!"

Unbeknownst to them the racket they made had helped the unconscious boy awaken. Slowly over several minutes Naruto became aware of his surroundings as if he was floating to the surface of a lake. It was about 10 minutes after Haku's shout that his eyes finally opened. Squinting from the light coming through the window he groaned from the headache he had, and slowly sat up. After a few more moments he regained his equilibrium, and got dressed. It was a slow process since his body still ached, and his headache stayed steady except for occasional spikes whenever he looked at something too bright for his eyes to handle. With one hand on his head he slowly headed downstairs following the sounds of daily life.

Reaching the dining room he didn't even notice who was there, and pulled out a chair at the table before gingerly lowers his body down. Finally noticing some small conversation going on around him he looked up to see who was speaking, having not noticed this earlier due to having his head feel like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. As his vision focused he saw a very attractive, finely boned girl slightly older then himself smiling as she talked to a one armed man that looked like he escaped from a psychward through a minefield.

As realization dawned on his still foggy brain as to who he was sitting with his jaw dropped and he stumbled back tripping over the chair and falling onto his back. As the impact with the floor seemingly settled his surprise he slowly stood back up holding his head.

"What the hell is going on? I would think I was still asleep if my head didn't hurt so much."

"Naruto-kun, are you alright? You should know better than to do things like that since you haven't fully recovered yet." The girl said as she helped him back to the chair.

As Naruto tried to settle his head the pale beauty went into the kitchen to get the teen some food, as she had heard of his inhuman appetite from his teammates. Coming out of his stupor as he placed a plate in front of him he eyed the bandaged one armed man before looking back at her.

"Ummm… Haku-chan. What is going on? The last thing I remember Kakashi-sensei, and Zabuza were going at it, and you had turned Sasuke-teme into a porcupine."

Looking down and blushing slightly as she recalled the memories from the battle that had taken place the night before last. Looking up at Naruto she met his sapphire blue slit eyes causing her blush to deepen. She glanced at the man who had been her father figure for the last several years ashamed at herself for the part she had played in the battle. Seeing the look his adopted daughter gave him he sighed and pushed away his meal with his one remaining arm.

"I will tell him, Haku. Go ahead and finish your lunch. I'm sure Tsunami could use your help when you are through."

Zabuza turned to regard the boy that had started to eat the food Haku had placed before him. Silently he studied the young man that had not only saved his and Haku's life, but had brought them closer as well. Taking note of his daughter's glances at Naruto he was unsure of himself on this issue despite being infamous for slaughtering his entire graduating class and master of the silent kill technique. This of course irritated him no end and showed itself in the increasingly hard drumming of his fingers on the table. Focusing on Naruto as Haku left to find Tsunami Zabuza saw the boy wearily watching him.

"Since you clearly remember events up until you started fighting Haku I will start from there." The large man absently rubbed the shoulder of his missing arm as he recalled the battle, and what the others have told him.

"When you saw Sasuke put into a near death state by Haku you, apparently thinking he was dead, went into an enraged state and charged Haku. Not wanting to fight you, she threw a bunch of senbon at you trying to incapacitate you the same way she did with your teammate. Somehow her aim was off and you got hit in the eyes. Haku was giving you first aid when the mist started to clear enough for you guys to see Kakashi has me pinned with his dog summons, and about to use some lightning technique to finish me off." Looking out the window Haku and Tsunami could be seen hanging laundry as they talked. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts of his tool turned daughter he looked back to a seemingly confused Naruto poking himself in the eye. "When Haku saw this she rushed over taking the blow herself to save me. Before Kakashi landed the hit though, you appeared knocking Haku aside and deflecting the strike. You saved my daughter's life as well as my own, but it cost me my left arm."

Zabuza pointed to his heavily bandaged left side smirking at the pale look Naruto gave him able to tell how stupid and suicidal what he had done was. Taking great satisfaction in making this genin sweat he raised his killer intent at Naruto fully enjoying the distress he showed. Seeing Haku look worriedly back to the house he chuckled and lowered his K.I. back down before continuing the story.

"It was at this point that we heard clapping coming from the end of the bridge. It turned out to be that ugly little shit Gato with 100 or so of his cronies. He gave some long winded speech about how he never intended to pay us because he was going to have us killed. He went on to say how it would be cheaper to have his goons kill all of us now that we were all injured and tired from fighting each other, and as a reward his gang could raze the village. He also offered a bonus to whoever captured Haku so she could be turned into his private bedroom slave. Kakashi and I called a truce so we could deal with Gato and his goons together. Before we could engage them a crossbow bolt landed between us drawing everyone's attention. Turns out the little brat had rallied the Villagers after you saved him and Tsunami from those two sorry excuses for swordsmen, and had brought them to the bridge in time to help fight Gato."

Zabuza turned to the door as Tsunami and Haku walked back inside with empty clothes baskets. Haku glancing between her father and Naruto to reassure herself that Zabuza hadn't maimed the boy, and smiled seeing Naruto trying to process what he had been told. Scratching his head Naruto looked at Zabuza.

"What about Sakura and Sasuke? You said he was put into a near death state like you were after our first fight. Does that mean Sakura and him are ok?"

"They are doing better then you are, Naruto-kun. Sasuke-san was fully recovered yesterday. He and Sakura-san are with Kakashi-san helping at the bridge. The village has been celebrating every day since Gato was killed, and everyone that is able is helping to finish the bridge. Kakashi-san told us to make sure you rested, and ate as much as you wanted if you woke up while they were gone. Would you like more to eat, Naruto-kun?"

"That would be great! I'm starving. Just how long was I out for by the way? I know it was at least a day since Sasuke recovered yesterday, and from what my stomach is telling me it has been way too long since my last meal." Naruto chuckled sheepishly as his stomach growled loudly reinforcing what he had just said.

Giggling softly Haku moved into the kitchen to get more food with Tsunami's help. Naruto watched the two women cooking unable to hear what they were discussing still trying to wrap his head around what was going on. Not truly surprised at Zabuza and Haku seemingly changing sides in the middle of a battle as this was far from unheard of in the world of shinobi. He was grinning in his goofy way glad that his team was alright after such a rough event, especially since in retrospect they should have returned to the village for backup. Suddenly feeling a wave of K.I. he turned to see Zabuza glaring at him.

"Haku is the daughter I never had, _boy._ Be very careful you don't do anything that would cause me to do something…_unpleasant_ to you." Zabuza stated as he sharpened his K.I. on Naruto causing him to visibly sweat.

Suddenly several ice senbon embedded themselves into the table breaking the tension. "Zabuza-sama, there is no need to treat Naruto-kun like that. He still hasn't fully recovered from the battle." Haku stated frowning at him as her and Tsunami placed several plates on the table. Seeing as she was irked at her father about his treatment of Naruto it was no surprise she was protective of him, or that she embedded a senbon in Zabuza's arm when he reached for one of the plates.

"This food is for Naruto-kun!" Haku stated firmly holding more senbon at the ready. "You have already recovered from the battle, and are capable of getting your own food, or at the very least _asking_. Naruto-kun is too strong, kind, caring, nice, loyal, and cute to be treating the way you have been, oto-san."

Not realizing every word she had said she was caught completely off guard as she head Tsunami speak. "So you think Naruto-san is cute." Tsunami's smile grew as Haku looked rapidly at everyone there with a growing look of embarrassment. "It's not really surprising considering how hard he fought, and saved your life. It must have been like a white knight rescuing a damsel in distress."

Haku's embarrassment grew with every word until she saw Naruto scratching the back of his head, and spoke with a fox like grin "Heh….I'm cute." Those words were the last straw for her as she started backing to the door. "I'll go inform Kakashi-san that you are awake." With that said she quickly ran out the door forgetting to even put her shoes on.

_With Kakashi_

The elite jonin appeared to be doing nothing more than reading a small orange book, but if anyone had been paying close enough attention they would have noticed that he had not turned a page in over an hour. Though no one could tell he was truly worried about one of his students. It was the second day after the battle of the bridge, and Naruto had yet to wake up. This worried the man known as "Kakashi: The Copy Ninja" greatly especially since he was one of the few that knew Naruto was the Jinchūriki of the 9 tailed fox bijuu known throughout the elemental nations as the Kyuubi no Yoko. Being honest with himself he was terrified when he felt the demonic aura coming from Naruto as he tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra. He was definitely not looking forward to telling the Hokage about what had happened when they returned to Konoha.

Looking at his other students with his one uncovered eye he wondered what was going through their minds after the last week. Sasuke had been silent, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Sakura had been frowning a lot, and looking worried ever since the battle. He had explained to them about Zabuza and Haku no longer being a threat since Gato was dead, but that had only lessened the pink haired girl's worry by a small margin. It had been difficult to get them to help on the bridge until he had explained that helping to build the bridge was a form of training. It worked rather well since Kakashi needed the time to figure out what he was going to do when he gave the mission debriefing to the Hokage, and the so called training kept Sakura and Sasuke occupied at the same time.

Despite all the time he had been thinking about the situation he was no closer to being able to put the whole series of events into a positive light then when he first started. So deep in thought was he that he did not notice a pale young woman body flicker to his position on the bridge until she addressed him.

"Kakashi-san. Naruto-kun is awake, and eating. It appears he doesn't remember anything after I incapacitated Sasuke so Zabuza-sama filled him in. He didn't tell him everything just as you requested."

"Thank you, Haku. Would you mind taking over guard duty while I take Sasuke and Sakura back to the house?"

"Not at all, Kakashi-san. With Gato gone there shouldn't be any issues."

Kakashi put his book away and headed over to where Sasuke and Sakura were to tell them Naruto was awake. Sasuke's reaction was to grunt, and dust himself off. Sakura on the other hand sighed in relief and grinned eager to see how her other teammate was doing.

_A SHORT TIME LATER_

Zabuza was sitting outside watching the waves as he relaxed more than he had in a very long time contemplating the recent changes to his life, and where things would go from here. As a missing nin his survivability had drastically declined with the loss of his left arm. Combine that with his realization of just how precious Haku was to him he was more than reluctant to return to the life he had live for the last 10 years. No longer seeing Haku as nothing more than a useful tool, he wanted to make sure she was safe, and didn't have to run from hunter nin only to end up dead or worse. He knew of Konoha by its reputation, and the shinobi he had met from there only reinforced his opinion of it. As his thoughts focused more on Haku he knew it would break his heart to cause Haku more pain than he already has especially after what she had experienced during the bloodline purges in Kiri. These thoughts only made him realize he had already reached a decision when he heard Team 7 returning.

"Calm down, Sakura. Haku said he was fine so stop worrying. If he needs more medical treatment the Hokage will make sure he gets it when we return. More than likely he will have all of us go to the hospital for examinations."

"Kakashi-sensei is right. You know how fast he heals. I'm surprised he wasn't up yesterday giving us all headaches with his antics. So enjoy the peace and quiet while you can, Sakura."

Seeing Zabuza leaning against the house Kakashi sent the kids inside to talk with Naruto before heading over to speak with the man. "I assume you have come to a decision, Zabuza?"

"Yes, Kakashi, I have. I still have my doubts about it, but all things considered it is probably for the best. We will go with you to Konoha, but I won't spill the beans on any sensitive info about Kiri. I may be a missing nin, but I know doing that would only cause more problems for me and Haku."

"I wouldn't expect you to, Zabuza. Of course there will be a probationary period if the Hokage does allow you to stay in Konoha, and you will be watched by ANBU during that time."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Zabuza said as he waved his remaining hand as if to brush the subject away. "You know that kid is a piece of work. He may act like a buffoon, but he has a good head on his shoulders as well as a big heart. He has a lot of potential to go far if he doesn't get killed like a lot in our line of work do."

Sighing as how Zabuza was right, and that people in his own village wanted Naruto dead because of what was sealed within him. "I agree, and it's a sad thing so many in Konoha don't like him. Mostly because of all the pranks he pulls, but it's just a cry for attention since he grew up an orphan."

"Really? No wonder Haku connected with him so well. They had similar childhoods. It makes me more supportive of their friendship since it seems highly unlikely he will cause her harm."

"That is something you won't have to worry about. Naruto is severely loyal to his friends, and will not hesitate to jump to their defense. I am confident he will help her integrate into the village sooner, and help her make friends her own age. You have to keep in mind though that he is known as Konoha's most surprising ninja. Heh after all he caught two jonin level ninja off guard enough to turn the tide of battle more than once."

Replying with a chuckle Zabuza smiled as he spoke. "Who would have ever thought that a mere genin barely out of the academy would surprise a jonin let alone do anything to change a jonin level fight? Judging by what I've seen of him fight I certainly wouldn't want to fight him once he gets jonin. The boy will grow up to be a monster on the battlefield."

"Tell me about it. When he graduated the academy I gave the team a test to see if they would stay genin or go back to the academy. During the test Naruto actually did so well he made me have to put away the book I was using as a handicap, and even think about revealing my sharingan. "

Raising a nonexistent eyebrow Zabuza showed his surprise. "That is no simple feat. For a genin to make some with a 35,000,000 ryo bounty on his head bring out the big guns is no laughing matter."

"Heh. I'm just glad the other jonin didn't see that. They never would have let me live it down. They were surprised as it was when the meeting was had to notify the Hokage about who passed, since I have never passed a genin team before."

Hearing people talking in the distance the two high level shinobi turned to see who was approaching. The bridge builder Tazuna could be seen talking with Haku as they casually walked toward the house. Glancing at each other for a moment in silent communication Zabuza nodded before heading into the house. Pushing himself away from the house Kakashi walked over towards the old man, and the girl.

"It looks like everything went well. Were there any problems we should know about?"

Tazuna laughed before answering. "The only problem was getting everyone to stop bombarding this girl with questions, and do the work they were supposed to be doing. If things keep going at the rate they have been I'd say the bridge will done in a few days."

"That is good to hear." Kakashi said before turning to Haku. "Why don't you head inside? Tsunami should have dinner ready soon. You might also want to see how Naruto is doing. Sakura has a habit of trying to cause him brain damage."

"Thank you Kakashi-san. I'm sure Tsunami-san could use some help with having to make cook for so many people." The young konoichi said as she hurried into the house.

Slipping his hands into his pockets Tazuna chuckled slightly. "She will make a great wife some day. Kind, caring, good around the house. The only down side is Zabuza. He's not a bad guy once you get to know him, but Kami forbid any of her future suitors piss him off."

Remembering some of the looks Haku had given Naruto as well Kakashi sweat dropped as he could easily see Zabuza chasing Naruto around town trying to dismember him with his sword. "You're right. I hope whoever catches her eye is smart enough to realize it."

Night found Naruto laying on the roof staring at the moon in thought. As the day went on he noticed something odd happening to his eyes. His sight grew clear, and shaper. His range of vision also increased. After hearing what happened during the last fight he thought it had something to do with how his eyes were healing after they got injured. He knew by all rights he should be blind from the damage Haku did with her senbon. He was glad that was not the case but it still worried him with how they were healing. Lost in his thoughts he never noticed his eyes slowly closing as sleep overwhelmed him.

Opening his eyes he found himself in what appeared to be a cavernous room with a cage on one end that stretched the entire width and height of the room. There was ankle deep water covering the floor, and by the looks of the wall he was in a large sewer. Turning toward the cage he heard a roaring of wind coming from within. Slowly walking forward he heard movement from inside the cage soon to be revealed as a red 9 tailed fox towering several hundred feet above him. The fox stared at the boy who was too stunned to be afraid.

"**So you finally show up, kit. I knew it would only be a matter of time since you tapped into my chakra." **

The monstrous demon fox chuckled in a way that that sent shivers down Naruto's spine. Grinning Kyuubi lowered down until his eyes were only a good 30 feet from the floor.

"**I imagine you have questions about your eyes. You have me to thank for that. With your eyes damaged I decided to improve them as I focused on healing you. A blind container would be insulting to me after all." **The strongest of the bijuu chuckled in an alarmingly demonic fashion before continuing. "**Your eyes have turned out even more powerful then I had planned. Unfortunately I sneezed during the process so even I am unsure of the extent they have been altered."**

Naruto stood still terrified of the creature before him having heard stories about how the Kyuubi no Yoko would have left Konoha a smoldering ruin if it wasn't for the 4th defeating it. As a curious expression crossed his face Naruto's fear strangely decreased to an almost negligible amount.

"Where are we? You healed me? Hell. Why would a demon like you be healing me if the first place?" He suddenly held his hands on his head as if the thoughts were giving him a severe headache. "Gaaaaahh. What the hell is going on?! One of Haku's senbon must have gone into my brain or something. There is no way this can be real."

"**Oh no, kit. This is all quite real. Take a seat this may take a while since you apparently know nothing of what has happened. While I was attacking your village, something I didn't want to do at first, the shinobi there tried to fight me off to no avail. Many fell before me until Minato Namikaze showed up. When I saw him I could not help but laugh as he appeared to be offering me his own newborn baby boy as a sacrifice. Oh how wrong I was. I will not bore you with the details since you obviously won't understand them. When I neared him he caught me off guard by using the Shinigami to seal me within the infant. So here we are chatting in the depths of your mindscape."**

Although the greatest of the bijuu chuckled at the completion of his statement his tails could be seen moving in displeasure. The only upside to the current situation was that the boy was in such a state of confused denial it was almost comical. Suddenly the fur on the terror of the elemental nations bristled as he saw something behind the boy. Watching carefully he saw a pair of eyes float through the air towards the boy. The eyes stopped just above and behind the boy looking at Kyuubi assessing him in a way that even made his skin crawl.

"_**So this is the origin of my being here. It is very interesting and yet abominably disappointing that I am part of such a pathetic creature."**_

Naruto turned quickly stumbling back in surprise as he stared in shock at the eyes that just spoke.

"Wha….How…when…." The boy clutched his chest trying to get his heart to calm down as he shook his head in denial to the events transpiring before him. "I must have eaten some bad fish or something. This has got to be a nightmare. First the Kyuubi claims to be in my head and now a pair of floating eyes is speaking to me. By Kami there is no way this can be real."

"_**Child. Weak, pathetic child. This is very real. You had better accept this soon, or else you will not only break in exquisite ways, but also die very horribly. I am here due to the Fox's unstable way he healed your eyes. The simple truth, now that I am here, is that you will either grow to be just as powerful as the demon behind you, or you will die very soon.**_

Naruto stood still as the truth of what was being said, and the beings here could not be denied. Over several minutes his emotions played across his face until he finally sighed as his mind fully accepted the reality before him. Slowly raising his head to the eyes that had not moved since they first spoke his mouth opened and closed in a fishlike manner before he got a hold of himself and swallowed. "What are you?"

Though no change could be seen Naruto and the Kubii both felt as if the eyes had just grinned like the Cheshire cat with such demonic power that the fox took a step back.

"_**You may call me Jagon."**_

As several minutes passed Naruto gathered himself together from the unsettling aura the eyes had given off. During this time the Kyuubi remained silent watching and considering. Scratching his head in thought he put the information together in his head before continuing the conversation. The Jagon eye never moved or spoke choosing to remain still in a way that in any other situation would be extremely unsettling. Naruto took a deep breath before looking up at the eyes before he decided to speak.

"I understand about the Kyuubi now or at least a lot more then what I did before. You on the other hand ….Jagon. What does that mean? Is that your name or what you are? What did you mean when you said I'd die if I didn't get stronger?"

"_**Your death is assured for it is the law of nature. The strong survive while the weak parish. As you are now you are nothing more than a sheep that knows its teeth can be used to do more than chew grass. As for your second question the answer is one and the same. Jagon is that it is a doujitsu. Unlike other bloodlines that come about because of a demon merging with its host this one would be termed artificial. I am a result of the fox's inept attempt to regenerate your eyes. Despite his ineptitude he by accident has accomplished something that those who are far better have failed to do for millennia. Any offspring you may have will be born with the Jagon as what you would call a bloodline limit."**_

The Kyuubi had started to emit a low growl at the backhanded compliments growing increasingly angry due to the blows to his pride. Naruto oblivious to this stood in a thinking pose as he took in what the Jagon had said. Suddenly a light bulb went off over Naruto's head.

"That means I have eye powers like the Sharingan. Oh man that teme is going to be so pissed." He said laughingly holding his stomach.

"_**You dare compare me to such a pathetic thing as the sharingan?! All that does is allow weak creatures to stay weak by mimicking the strong to survive. To gain any of my powers you will have to prove your worth to me. I will NOT allow a weak being to possess my power!"**_

Realizing that the Jagon was not something to piss off especially since it was inside his head, and could do only Kami knows what, Naruto decided to act in a more respectful manner.

"If that means I have to train to become even stronger then let's get started. The sooner I gain your power, the quicker I can get stronger, and become Hokage!" Naruto said with his biggest grin and his fingers held in the V for victory pose.

"_**Those are strong words, boy. We will see if your conviction is a match for your mouth. Just remember one thing…..Begging for death will not absolve you of training."**_

Naruto swallowed hard at this, but then burst into a wide grin. "No sweat! Not even ANBU can beat me."

"_**Wrong, boy. They COULDN'T. Now they can. As you are now that banshee bitch could destroy you in a fight. You will only grow stronger through blood, sweat, and tears. Lots and lots of blood."**_

"Hey! Leave Sakura out of this. She isn't that bad." As it hit him as to what else was said his eyes turned angry and confused. "What do you mean she could beat me?! She is the weakest out of our graduating class!" Naruto said with his arms crossed, and a glower on his face.

"**The implantation of the Jagon has striped you down to genin level." Looking up Kyuubi thought to himself. 'In hindsight I should never have let Mizuki place those limiter seals on the kit.'**

"_**YOU ALLOWED WHAT?! The mightiest of the bijuu indeed. You are nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a mass of chakra! To do something as petty as allowing that to happen to your host is unforgivable." **_

The eyes began floating towards the Kyuubi. As they grew nearer the Jagon was surrounded by flames that appeared to be made of pure darkness. The flames continued to grow until they were around 5 feet tall, and the Jagon was within arm's reach of the bars.

"_**Since you are a part of this fiasco you will help to rectify the situation. You can start by giving us the memories of the when the limiter seals were placed."**_

The Kyuubi though slightly unnerved by the flames grew angrier at being addressed by the Jagon in such a way.

"**How dare you speak to me like that?! I am the Kyuubi No Yoko the greatest of the bijuu. Show proper respect before I devour you" **

"_**Proper respect? You claim to be the greatest of the bijuu, but you are nothing but a pathetic overinflated chakra balloon."**_

As the Kyuubi listened his eyes narrowed dangerously. At being call a chakra balloon his pride could not take anymore and stuck out at the Jagon with his claws extended. As his claws met the fire he let out a roar of pain quickly withdrawing his paw back into the cage. Looking at his paw the Kyuubi was shocked at the damage that had been done. One of his claws was gone, as was a lot of fur. Where the fur once was could be seen a mass of burns. Focusing his chakra to heal quickly he was surprised to see a very slow progress when it should have been near instantaneous. Deciding to err on the side of caution until he knew more about the Jagon he acquiesced for now.

"**The memories are of no consequence, but they were not all you had in mind. What else is there?"**

Having made his point the Jagon floated back to his position about halfway between the cage and Naruto. Still trying to understand what was happening Naruto was wisely remaining silent as he watched the confrontation knowing it would be a bad idea to piss either one of these creatures off.

"_**Being as old as you are I assume you know how to make chakra cuffs? Not the ones the shinobi use to hold prisoners, but the ones that increase a person's chakra control and reserves. I want you to give that knowledge to Naruto so he can make them and wear them as soon as possible."**_

Kyuubi was quite taken aback by this as no one had used chakra cuffs of this sort in several hundred years, and had thought the knowledge of their existence was lost during the last demon/human war 150 years prior to the 1st great ninja war. Taking his eyes from Jagon he studied Naruto for a moment before replying slowly.

"**Such a tool would be of great advantage, and will most definitely make the kit stronger. There is one condition for my assistance in this."** At this Kyuubi's eyes seemed to bore into Narutoin a way that he knew he would not be able to avoid whatever the condition was. **"You will be the avatar of my revenge on the one responsible for my humiliation. It will be by your hand that he dies."**

So saying Kyubii shoved the knowledge into Naruto making him dizzy enough to fall onto his butt as his mind sorted the information.

"_**It's a good thing that was done in your mindscape. If Kyuubi had done that without you being here it would have knocked you unconscious for several hours. As you know your eyes are much more perceptive then they once were, but that is not all they are capable of. I will train you in the other functions of them when you are ready. Tomorrow you will make the chakra cuffs, and start training with them. If anyone asks they are some bracers that caught your eye in town, and decided to buy them. Your training will also involve shadow clones as it will help with your control since their knowledge and experiences return to you when they are deactivated. If you train right you will be able to give a jonin a run for his money by the time your chakra reserves return to what they once were. Our time grows short so listen well. When you return to Konoha tell the Hokage about the limiter seals. They can be seen on the back of your neck. Also if anyone asks about the change in your eyes tell them it is because of your increased healing factor unless it is someone that knows about you being a Jinchūriki. In that case you will tell them it is a side effect of housing the Kyuubi much like all the other Jinchūriki have from their "guests". It nears the time for your shift to be relieved. Go get some sleep and in the morning your training will begin." **_

With that being said Kyuubi kicked Naruto out of his mindscape. Opening his eyes Naruto could see that over an hour had passed, and Sakura was approaching for the shift change. Getting up he waved at her letting her know everything had been quiet, and headed inside eager for to begin his new training.

The Jagon stared at where Naruto had faded away from for a few minutes before turning to look at the Kyuubi, who at this point had turned to lay down for some sleep. Slowly the Jagon floated to the cage with small flames of pure darkness the likes of which had not been seen since before creation when all of existence was the Void. After a brief time a thin jet of the flame lashed out like a whip all but flaying the chakra beast in the process.

"_**Who said we were done? You and I have much yet to discuss."**_ The Jagon said in a voice that was eerily devoid of emotion considering the actions that had just taken place. _**"Your chakra will be used to correct the failures you have done out of blind pride. Your foolishly prideful habit of merely healing Naruto to his current state instead of improving him to be a worthy embodiment for us will no longer be allowed. You may be satisfied with such a pitiful host, but I am beyond such petty things. We WILL alter him so that he is more fitting for a being of MY stature. We WILL start the enhancements of his physical condition now as well as increasing the number of chakra pathways to his brain to increase his mental fortitude.**_

The Kyubii growled as he thought to himself** 'I have no choice to do as this impudent whelp says for now. He can get to me while I can not get to him, but soon a time will come when that will change.' **

The next morning found Naruto walking into the village to get the supplies he needed for the chakra cuffs as well as a list of things Kakashi said they needed to resupply with. Although the village itself was almost unchanged the people were much happier, and walked with none of the fear that could be seen just a few days earlier. Over the next hour he had walked into several stores trying to find what he needed with no success, and as the day wore on his progressed slowed due to the villagers offering gifts, and cheers to their hero. At first Naruto welcomed the attention it quickly became an annoyance as his frustration grew. Finally walking into a blacksmith's shop to escape the crowds he saw a few of the items he needed. Gathering the items that he found he walked over to the clerk.

"Will that be all today, sir?"

"Yeah, unless you know where I can find the rest of the things on this list?" Naruto said as he showed the list.

"I don't have any of that here, but there is a shop a few streets over that has most if not all of what you need. The owner picked up a lot of things like that from when we raided Gato's hideout after his death." After receiving directions and paying the bill Naruto headed to the shop eager to get back so he could train.

_A week later_

After having set up camp for the night Naruto could be seen rummaging through his pack as Sakura and Haku were cooking dinner. Pulling out a scroll he had forgotten about he suddenly grinned before approaching Haku with the scroll behind his back. Having noticed Naruto getting closer Sakura got a tick mark on her forehead knowing all too well about his appetite.

"It's not ready yet, baka. So go sit down and wait like everyone else." Sakura said waving a ladle at him.

Smirking Naruto moved toward the side of the table Haku was at as he replied without looking at Sakura.

"If I want to rent billboard space I'll let you know, but I have better things to do right now."

Sakura caught off guard but such an "un-Naruto" comment is in shock for a moment, until the sounds of Sasuke, Kakashi, and Zabuza laughing reached her ears. Clenching her fist hard enough to make the ladle creak in protest as "inner-Sakura" raged at Naruto. Giggling at the exchange Haku glances up from preparing the meal, she sees Naruto walking towards her with a mischievous smirk, and his blue eyes twinkling in mirth causing a slight blush to grace her cheeks. Feeling the heat on her face she ducks her head trying to focus on the food in front of her instead of the shrinking distance between her and her newfound crush.

"Oh Haku-chan. I have a surprise for you." Naruto said in an innocently seductive tone of voice causing Haku to go as rigid as a post. Haku's eyes flew wide open, and her blush returned, so powerfully that a certain Hyuuga would be jealous, as she heard Naruto speak in a way that had been making her dreams especially enjoyable the last few days. The responses from the males of the group to hearing Naruto's way of addressing Haku though varied were along very similar paths. Kakashi raised an eyebrow before eye-smiling with a giggle usually only heard when his face was buried in a certain orange book. Sasuke stared at Naruto for a moment before shaking his head and mumbling to himself. "…dobe." Zabuza's was the most pronounced, but understandable considering his realization of how Haku was like a daughter to him, and the over protectiveness that went along with it. A scowl appeared on his face just as suddenly as his laughter shut off. Fingering his sword Zabuza began walking over to the kids with a quietness only a master assassin could use.

Softly Naruto lifts Haku's face so she is looking him in the eyes smiling at her in such a way that she is unable to turn her head. Unbeknownst to the boy Zabuza was standing less than a foot behind him with his sword ready to sever his head if he saw a sign he was thinking with the wrong brain. Still smiling Naruto holds out the scroll. "You really shouldn't hide such a beautiful face, Haku-_chan_. Here is a present that might help you display an equally beautiful side of yourself." He said in a tone of voice that was filled with innuendo. While Kakashi was making a note to himself to remember that line for future use, Zabuza stood as still as a rock wondering at the blond midget since Naruto sure as hell wasn't player material from what he had seen before now. After having noticed the blood seal on the scroll Zabuza put his sword away before coughing to get their attention.

"You'll have to use some blood to open that, Haku. It is locked with a blood seal."

Blinking a few times to get a hold of herself upon hearing Zabuza cough Haku blushed, and carefully took the scroll thankful for a chance to clear the thick fog that had seemed to envelope her brain. Inspecting the scroll she saw what her adopted father meant. Biting her thumb just enough to cause a few drops of blood to flow, she drew the bloody digit across the seal hoping it worked since seals of this kind were usually set to specific blood signatures. After several seconds the lines of the seal began to shift, and flow over the scroll before settling into a new shape that turned out to be words. Clear as day in bold print could be seen the words "Hyouton Bloodline skills, and other jutsu". Saying that Haku was shocked was like saying that Kakashi liked to read porn once in a while. Holding in her hands a tangible connection to her family for the first time since her mother died. After a moment her hands began to shake as her emotions began to overwhelm her.

Wet spots appeared on the scroll as tears began flowing from her eyes before she suddenly tackles Naruto to the ground kissing him full on the lips shocking everyone there. Breaking the kiss she hugs Naruto tightly whispering "thank you….thank you" over and over feeling Naruto's arms wrap gently around her as her tears soaked his shoulder. Sasuke actually unfolded his arms and leaned forward in unabashed surprise at what had just happened. Kakashi merely eye smiled before pulling his headband back down covering his sharingan eye. Sakura was not just surprised she was stunned. What she had just seen was so far out of what she thought was possible that she let the ladle slip to the ground unnoticed. By the time the ladle hit the ground however, "inner Sakura" was ranting in a very Yosemite Sam fashion before stomping over to a chalkboard and placing a hash mark under Naruto's name. On the board the names of the rest of the "Konoha 12" could be seen as well as large letters stating "Successful Seduction Attempts". Sighing deeply at the blank space by her name she turns to a near identical chalkboard that says "Failed Seduction Attempts". Asides from the title the major difference between the two was that Naruto was the only one with success points while Ino and Sakura had over 100 failed points each.

Several long moments passed before Haku stopped crying, and stood up. With her head down, and her eyes on the scroll, she made a decision as Naruto brushed himself off. Pocketing the scroll she wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and kissed him deeply. After a long enough time to leave the boy short of breath Haku smiled looking into his eyes. "You have no idea how much this means to me, Naruto-koi." She said coyly before walking over to her tent with a sway in her hips that left Naruto unable to look away.


	2. Chapter 2

After that eventful dinner Naruto and Haku were seldom seen far apart, and spent much of the trip to Konoha talking with each other. Even with this being the case they had not shared another kiss or even hugged each other. Instead they spent the time learning more about the other, and grew even closer. This is why they were almost shoulder to shoulder when they entered Konoha with Naruto signing in for her before the group headed to the Hokage tower to inform Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure. Within 15 minutes they were ushered into his office for debriefing with Kakashi in the lead. As the jonin took position infront of the Hokage's desk Sakura sat in one of the chairs, Sasuke leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, Naruto stood between the couch and the desk with Haku at his side, and Zabuza plopped down on the other chair.

Despite all the assurances she had gotten on the way back from Nami no Kuni Haku was very nervous, and clasped Naruto's hand. Feeling the grip he turned to her with a half smile and a gentle squeeze of her hand. Haku let a small smile grace her lips as she looked into Naruto's eyes. As she gazed into his eyes she couldn't help but become lost in their depths, in a way that could certainly be similar to how someone feels when their soul enters the afterlife peacefully, only to be brought back to reality with a sudden cough from the aging Hokage. Blushing enough that the Hyuuga heir would be tough to beat without fainting she shyly hid behind Naruto taking hold of his arm from behind, and causing Zabuza to snort in mirth.

Naruto gently patted Haku's hand reassuringly telling her not to worry, and that he'd protect her with such strength that Sarutobi couldn't help smiling at the interaction. Pushing the thoughts of his adopted grandson's love life aside for future contemplation he coughed again before speaking.

"From what I can tell the mission debriefing will be full of surprises so why don't you get started Kakashi." The old man said with authority.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The cyclopean pervert said before going into an in depth debriefing that lasted over an hour. When it was all said and done Sasuke was dozing in the same position he was in when they entered, Sakura looked extremely bored, Zabuza was looking intently at the Hokage trying to discern his reaction, and Naruto was holding an obviously nervous Haku while whispering into her ear. Sarutobi leaned back in his chair puffing on his pipe for several moments in thought with his fingers interlocked.

"Your team did exceptionally well under the circumstances, and it is amazing they are even alive after what happened. I am upgrading your mission from mid C rank to upper A rank with the appropriate pay increase, as well as a bonus from the bounty for the Demon Brothers. I am also giving your team a week's vacation from missions to relax and recover. Each of you have earned it and you should all be proud. Now on to other matters… Naruto, seeing as how you started the ball rolling I want your opinion."

Naruto nodded, and smiled at Haku before addressing Sarutobi. "Jiji, I trust Haku-chan, and Zabuza enough to tell them about the furball." He said with a look and tone as serious as getting your balls caught in razor-wire.

Sarutobi merely raised an eyebrow at the teen despite his enormous surprise at hearing this. Taking the time he slowly weighed first Zabuza, and then Haku before bringing his eyes back to Kakashi who gave an almost imperceptible nod. The Hokage took a long drag off his pipe before sighing deeply. "It's decided then." He said with a finality that could only be matched by the sound of dirt as it hits the top of a coffin as its being buried. "Zabuza…Haku…You have gained Naruto's trust, and that is something not even a handful of people have done. I trust his judgment, and as such I am laying my faith on him, and his trust in you. There are also certain guidelines that have to be followed as well. Zabuza you will have to undergo questioning by our I&T department which I trust you will oblige any of their questions. After your cooperation you will be put on probation for 3 months, and if mine and Naruto's trust is shown to be well placed you will be instated as a shinobi of Konoha with the rank of jonin." Before continuing he took note of the smile Haku gave Zabuza, and the way she hugged Naruto.

"Haku… Since you are being sponsored by, and are under the protection of Naruto, you will be given an apartment near his while you are under probation for the same 3 months as Zabuza. During which time your skills will be accessed to a great degree, and should you prove true to what has been said here you will awarded rank according to your skill, which if I have not misheard is at the very least mid chunin." At this point Sarutobi set his pipe on the desk and leaned forward his entire demeanor now one of deadly seriousness with some KI added. "Be warned. If you betray Naruto or bring him any harm I will destroy you." He said in a voice that was devoid of emotion.

Haku's eyes widened in fear, and nearly wet herself as she shook like a leaf in a hurricane. Her breathing increased to near hyperventilating levels as she felt the KI being focused on her, and nearly had a heart attack as she felt the power a Kage could bring to bare. Feeling arms wrap around her she jerked her head in fright to see who it was only to relax seeing the blonde smile at her as he tightened his arms around her. Without even thinking about it she gave Naruto a peck on the cheek before bowing deeply to the man known as "Shinobi no Kami".

"You have nothing to worry about, Hokage-sama. I will never betray or harm Naruto-kun. If I ever do you can be assured that I will die by my own hand." Haku said solemnly from her near genuflecting position.

Sarutobi nodded to himself satisfied with her answer, and opened up a drawer bring out the needed documents. Once they were filled out he put the ones Haku and Zabuza had done in the "to be processed" pile, and handed Kakashi the pay receipts to make sure Team 7 was paid correctly. Once that was done he relaxed back into his chair puffing on his pipe. "Now that that is taken care of all that remains is for you to be shown where you will be living. Kakashi, I want you to accompany Naruto and Haku back to the complex, and speak with the landlady about her new apartment next to Naruto's. If she has any questions send her to me, and I will deal with them. For now, Zabuza, you will have to be taken to ANBU headquarters for the questioning. Once that is done I will make arrangements for your own place to live. You are dismissed." With everyone filing out of the room, and Zabuza being escorted by an ANBU Saratobi turned back to the bane of his existence…paperwork.

Haku and Naruto followed Kakashi to the apartment complex talking with each other as the jonin remained silent except for the occasional perverted giggle as he read his orange book. As they walked Naruto would point out some of the landmarks along their way telling her about each one. Despite her joy at walking hand in hand with the one who had stolen her heart her mood grew darker the longer they walked. The reason for this is that she was noticing the looks that Naruto was receiving from the villagers. At first she had dismissed it until she had over heard some of the comments that were made about the "demon brat". Having not only experienced his power first hand, but also told about his burden she knew who they were talking about, and it was really starting to piss her off.

'How can they say that about Naruto-kun? He is more of an angel then a demon.' She thought blushing even with the scowl that had managed to show on her porcelain visage.

"It's ok, Haku-chan, just ignore them." Naruto said softly as he brought her hand to his lips kissing the back of it softly.

Haku smiled coyly at the open display of affection before a look of concern appeared. "Are you sure, Naruto-kun?"

"Yes I am sure, Yukionna-hime. True they make things rough for me at times, but they won't do anything since I am a ninja, and they don't want to face Jiji's wrath." He said with a foxy grin.

Haku found an intense heat form on her cheeks at his pet name, and interlaced her fingers with his trying to hide the fact her inner pervert had reared its' head at his grin. While she fought with her reproductive instincts she didn't notice that they had arrived at the complex until Naruto had stopped her. Seeing that he had a hand on each of her arms and was standing infront of her smiling in a way that brought a flash of heat to her abdomen she involuntarily stepped into his arms and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Kakashi-sensei has gone in to talk with the landlady. Why don't I show you my place and I can get you something to eat or some tea if you want." He said with his arms around her waist.

She nodded reluctant to leave his arms, but followed him up the stairs to the 3rd floor. With the door unlocked he paused to smile at her apologetically. "My place is a bit messy right now. I didn't have time to clean it before the mission, and it's been almost a month." With that said he opened the door, and gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. "Which kind of tea would you like? I have green, gen mai cha, and of course sencha." He asked as he set a kettle to boil on the stove.

"Gen mai cha sounds good, Naruto-kun." She said as she looked around the small bachelor pad.

The living room was not as messy as he made it out to be, and was furnished spartanly with one 3 person couch, a short table that looked like it had been made from a root portion of a tree as a base with a couple cushions under it, and some pictures on the wall of his team, the Hokage, and some people at a ramen stand. At the back of the apartment was a door that was slightly ajar letting her see that it was the bedroom. Between the kitchen and the bedroom was another door that she assumed was the bathroom. After a few minutes she heard the sounds of tea being poured. Shortly Naruto returned holding two cups of tea, and handed her one before sitting down on the couch next to her. They sat in companionable silence for a while each sipping their tea until there was a knock on the door. Naruto set his cup on the table before getting up to answer the door.

"Come on in, Kakashi-sensei." He said standing to the side so the leader of Team 7 could enter.

Kakashi walked over to Haku, and held out a scroll and a key for her. "This is the key to the apartment next door as well as the information on when and where you will be tested. Since we have a week off I expect Naruto to help you assimilate to life here, and answer any questions you might have. Also you will not be allowed to use your skills except in self defense until your status here has been finalized. As such Naruto will act as your bodyguard until you have been officially instated as a ninja of Konoha."

While he spoke Naruto had retaken his seat next to Haku, and resumed sipping his tea. When Kakashi had finished Naruto took Haku's hand in his. "Don't worry nothing will happen to her on my watch."

The jonin having noticed Naruto's change in behavior ever since the bridge battle had not missed how the two interacted, and wondered if the change was because of her or something more sinister. Unsure how to broach the subject he resolved to talk with the Hokage about it and just watch for now.

"Ano…What about Otou-san?" Haku said hesitantly as she pulled Naruto's hand into her lap, and placing her other hand over his.

"Zabuza? If he cooperates with ANBU he should be released in a few days. After that it depends on what Hokage-sama decides to do. Just be patient, and I'm sure you'll see him soon. In the mean time just relax, and get to know your way around here. Don't forget to be at the appointed places on time for your testing. Naruto, we will resume team functions at the usual place and time in 7 days." With that said he walked back to the door, but stopped half way through before speaking over his shoulder. "By the way…Try not to make Haku too sore to do the tests properly, and don't do anything I wouldn't do." He said with an eye smile before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Haku who had started to sip her tea once again began choking at his parting words with her face red enough to cause a certain Hyuuga girl to ask for pointers. Naruto simply laughed being used to much worse from the two demonic entities that resided within him. After handing Haku a towel he grinned slyly deciding to tease her a bit.

"Since you have an interest in medical jutsu soreness shouldn't be an issue."

Haku froze for a second slowly turning her head to look at Naruto. After a few seconds a thoughtful look overtook her face as if she was scanning through a list of remedies causing Naruto to fall off the couch in laughter.

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That night Naruto found himself back infront of the Kyuubi's cage with the Jagon hovering to his right. "Please don't tell me this is about more training." He grumbled not wanting to go through another "Hell Week" like he did in wave.

"**No this is not about training, but something just as important if not more so. You have been brought here to learn about your parents."** The Jagon said slowly circling Naruto.

"My parents? You mean you know who they were? Yatta!" He yelled, and jumped in the air.

"**Yes we know whose genetics you share. Between Kyuubi's knowledge from his previous hosts and our study of your body as we began fixing some flaws we have figured out who they are."**

Naruto had not been this enthused since he had first tasted ramen from Ichiraku's after he had been kicked out of the orphanage, and danced around the dank room until he was brought to a stop by Kyuubi.

"**ENOUGH! Sit your ass down or we won't tell you shit!"** The 9 tailed fox roared causing Naruto to stop dead still, and sit on what looked like a broken piece of concrete.

"I'll be good." He said with the same look and tone a child would use when promised a new toy if they were quiet for 5 minutes.

"**The easiest part to figure out was who your father was. You are nearly identical to him in looks, and if you thought about it you would know who it is without help. Your father was Namikaze Minato the Yondaime Hokage, and the same person that sealed that overgrown rug inside you. Your mother was a little harder to figure out, but there only a few possibilities considering you are blonde haired and blue eyed. As it turns out you are not only related to one Hokage but three. Your mother is the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju. By looking through your memories we were able to find out her name as well as a few other things that were mentioned in your time spent at the academy. Your mother is Tsunade Senju of the Densetsu no Sannin."**

Naruto, like anyone else in his position, was as stunned as if Kami herself showed up naked and offered to give him a blowjob. His mouth was agape, and his eyeballs looked like they were about to pop out of his head. He sat there for several long minutes before he was able to form coherent words. "Are you seriously telling me that I am the son of the man that almost single handedly ended the 3rd Great War, and literally the strongest konoichi in the ninja world?"

"**Yes we are, Kit. Even though this explains a few things it brings up even more questions. Ones you should be asking the old man about." **

Naruto could only nod dumbly in response as he tried to keep his brain from melting from the information. "I'll do that first thing tomorrow."

"**Make sure that you do."** The Jagon said before kicking Naruto out of the mindscape.

The next morning Naruto rushed through his morning rituals intent on being at the Hokage's office as soon as possible. In short order he arrived at the Hokage's office, and walked in to sit in one of the chairs staying silent the whole time. Sarutobi was caught off guard by this as Naruto was never silent like this before.

"Good morning, Naruto. Is there something I can help you with?" He asked as he wondered what had happened to put the boy in the mood he was in.

Naruto looked at the old man for a few moments before nodding to himself. "You can tell me why you have lied all these years."

Needless to say the Hokage was at a loss hearing this, and voiced his confusion. "What do you mean, Naruto, and why do you think I've been lying to you?"

The teen took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "I want to know why you kept the identities of my parents secret, and forced me to live like I have? You know who they are, and yet you've kept it from me. Tell me why my mother left me alone even though she lives on."

Saratobi's eyes widened at this since he didn't know who his mother was. "Honestly I do not know who your mother is. I only know that your father was Namikaze Minato. I have tried my best to care for you despite the trouble the council gives me. As for why I didn't tell you it was for your own safety. You father had many enemies both outside and inside the village. If it was known you're life would be in danger every day, and Iwa or Kumo may have even declared war on us just to kill you." Giving Naruto time to process this information he took his time filling and lighting his pipe. After puffing a few times he voiced the question that had been screaming in his mind. "Do you really know who your mother is, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded both in acceptance of what he had been told as well as in answer to the question. "Yes I do. How I found out I won't tell you, but it can be verified with a simple blood test." He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. "You know my mother quite well. Jiji. She was your student after all. Senju Tsunade Konoha no Namekuji Hime, and member of the Densetsu no Sannin."

Sarutobi was dumbfounded at this, and only his long years of experience prevented him from gaping like a fish. After several minutes he shook himself, and gave of a small burst of chakra causing one of his ANBU guards to appear. "I want you to go to the hospital, and tell Dr. Fukazawa I want him in my office immediately." When the ANBU had left the old man turned to Naruto. "The man I sent him after is my personal physician. What you have told me needs to be verified before we can do anything about it. When he has brought me the results we'll talk about it more then. Don't worry about having to give any blood for this since it is already on file from all the time you spent in the hospital. Don't let this eat at you, Naruto. We will get this straightened out, so go have fun with Haku alright?"

"Alright, Jiji." Naruto said standing up. "I'll send the bill for Haku's shopping like we agreed upon."

A short time later the ANBU returned with the doctor, who Sarutobi gestured to sit while he addressed the ANBU once again. "I will need you to get Zabuza from I&T so I can speak with him. Bring him in as soon as I am done with this meeting, and then tell Hyuuga Hiashi to meet me tomorrow."

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Haku and Naruto spent most of the time over the next week together hardly ever separating for more than the night when they went to bed. Naruto had shown her around town, helped her shop for things she needed for her new place, and introduced her to the Ichiraku's as well as some of the other genin from the "Rookie 9". For the most part things had been uneventful with the notable exception of the first time they had visited the Yamanaka flower shop. Naruto had brought her there with her interest in plants in mind, and she was suitably impressed with what they had in stock as well as the knowledge Mrs. Yamanaka had about each of the plants in her store. They had been there for over 30 minutes when Ino walked in after her team's activities.

"Kaa-san, I'm Home!" She yelled as she entered the store.

"How was your day, hon?" Her mother asked from the counter turning from watching Naruto and Haku peruse the goods.

"It was ok. Choji ate all the time as usual, and Shika played shogi with Asuma-sensei again. After that we did a D rank for Mrs. Tsukimara. How has business been?"

"It's been good. As a matter of fact…" Mrs. Yamanaka gestured for her daughter to get closer in a conspiratorial way as she shared her daughter's gossiping gene. "One of your old classmates is here with his girlfriend." She said in a whisper pointing to the pale beauty and the blonde.

Ino quickly took in the long black hair, pale pink kimono, and pale beauty of the girl feeling a pang of jealousy at just how much she looked like a goddess come to earth. When her eyes landed on the boy next to her Ino's jaw dropped. Right before her eyes was the "dead last" with what was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Her eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw Naruto pick up a flower for the girl to look at only to get a kiss in return. She stood looking like a stepped on frog until her mother poked her in the ribs.

"Why are you so shocked, Ino? I think they look great together. Just like the sun and the moon." Said Mrs. Yamanaka laughing inwardly at her daughter's reaction.

"Bu…But it's _Naruto_! He's the dead last, and class clown! How in the name of Kami did he get a girl like that?" She exclaimed drawing the attention of her fellow genin.

"Hey, Ino! Long time no see." He said as he walked over hand in hand with Haku.

"Apparently longer then I thought it had been. Why don't you introduce me to your friend, Naruto?" She said looking them over with her "gossip eye".

"Ah gomen gomen. Allow me to introduce you. Yamanaka Ino I'd like you to meet Yuki Haku. She is new to Konoha, and will joining as a konoichi after she has been evaluated by the old man. Yuki Haku this is Yamanaka Ino, heir of the Yamanaka clan, local gossip queen, and vice president of the teme's fan club."

While Ino's eyes narrowed at the reference to Sasuke, Haku bowed formally and with perfect etiquette addressed Ino. "It is an honor to meet you, Yamanaka-san. Naruto-kun has told me much about your time together at the academy."

Ino caught off guard by such formality replied just as she was trained to as a clan heir. "It is an honor to meet you as well, Yuki-san. I trust you find Konoha to your liking?"

"Hai it is a great village, but it does have a few…dissatisfactory issues." Haku said with a slight glint in her eyes.

Naruto slipped his arm around her waist gently pulling her to his side. "I've told you not to worry about that, Yukionna-hime."

Ino raised her eyebrows at this especially when Haku rested her head on his shoulder and gave a soft sigh. 'Wow no one will believe this without seeing it themselves. I have to call Forehead as soon as I can.'

"So you two are an item? How did you meet?" She asked entering full "Gossip Queen" mode.

Naruto and Haku shared a glance before he spoke. "I had fallen asleep from training in a clearing when Haku-chan showed up to gather herbs for a sick relative. We talked as I helped her, and hit it off." He said slightly shrugging his unoccupied shoulder.

"Really now? So what attracted you to the knucklehead?" Ino said to Haku her interest clearly showing.

Haku smiled at Naruto who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "He has a heart of gold, will do anything for his precious people, is strong, and not to mention he has ungodly stamina." She said thinking about the fight on the bridge.

Ino however mistook what she said for something else entirely, and widened her eyes in shock. 'They are already having sex?! What a sec…"ungodly stamina"…Does that mean…?' She thought to herself blushing furiously, and thought of a way to change the subject. "Did I hear right that you are going to be a ninja here?"

"Hai. Hokage-sama said that my skills need to be evaluated so that he can place me at the proper rank since I was never officially part of a hidden village, and was trained by my otou-san." Haku raised her head and looked at Naruto. "That reminds me we still need to go shopping for the gear I need."

"It's ok I know just the place we can go. It's the best place to get equipment from, and they never over charge either." He said with a smile. "I hope you don't mind, but I also made reservations for dinner tonight at one of the better Akimichi restaurants."

"Of course I don't mind, Naruto-kun. I actually prefer we do it tonight since I have to meet Hokage-sama the day after tomorrow for the testing."

"Then why don't we finish shopping then head home so we can get ready. The reservations are for 1800 hours, and we should both dress semi-formal at the least." Naruto said checking the time via a clock on the wall behind the counter.

With the conversation over they bid Ino farewell, and headed out the door. Ino stared after them for a few minutes before running up to her room, and grabbing the phone. After a few rings Sakura picked up on the other end.

"Moshi moshi Haruno residence." The pink haired girl said.

"Hey, Forehead, you are not going to believe what just happened at my families shop." She said in a voice thick with juicy gossip yet to be told.

"What happened?" Sakura asked not missing the tone one bit.

"Naruto was just in here with a gorgeous girl that he seems to be dating."

"What?! Naruto has a girlfriend? No way!"

"Oh yeah and if what this Haku girl said is true they are already sleeping together!"

"NANI! Naruto is sleeping with Haku? I don't believe it!" Sakura said in a now very irate voice.

Ino caught the anger in the pinkette's voice and smirked. "What's wrong, Billboard Brow, are you jealous?"

"What? Hell no! Haku was one of the ninja we fought on our last mission. Look why don't you come over and I'll tell you all about, Ino-pig."

"Ok I'll be right over after I shower. Give me about half an hour."

"Alright I'll see you then. Bye." Sakura said before hanging up the phone.

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The next morning after Ino had gone back home Sakura made her way over to Naruto's apartment. Seeing as it was midmorning she thought he would be at home and knocked on the door. Getting no response she knocked harder, and repeated the cycle for almost 10 minutes, and grew more pissed each time she knocked on the door.

"NARUTO, OPEN THE DOOR! I KNOW YOU"RE IN THERE YOU BAKA!" The pink haired banshee screamed.

Just as she was about to kick the door in the one next door opened up to reveal Naruto standing there in a pair of sweatpants, barefoot, and with no shirt on. "Geez, Sakura, what's your problem?"

Sakura looked back and forth a few times from the door he was at to the one she was infront of with a look of confusion on her face. "Isn't this your place?" She asked pointing to the now dented door.

"Yeah that's my apartment. What of it?" He asked rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Just as she was about to ask why he was in that apartment instead of his a pair of pale slim arms wrapped around his waist. "Who is it, Naruto-kun?" A very feminine voice said as a head covered in long black hair came to rest on his shoulder, and the person was wearing a short sleeve robe that stopped just above the knee.

"It's Sakura, and I don't know why she's yelling and trying to break my door in." He said before kissing the upturned cheek of the girl behind him. "So why are you here, Sakura? We still have two more days 'til we have to report in."

Sakura shook her head at the scene before her unable to believe it. "You really are sleeping together!" She said totally dumbfounded.

Haku raised her head to look at Sakura still half asleep. "Is that why you woke us up, Sakura-san?" She asked merely getting a nod in response. "Yes we have slept together. Now if that is all I need to get more sleep seeing as we were still awake at dawn. Come on, Naruto-kun, let's go back to bed." She said before heading back inside with a slight limp as her foot was asleep.

Sakura's eyes opened wider and wider as Haku spoke totally stunned, and could only manage to lift her hand in reply to a quick wave from Naruto before he shut the door again. She stood there for a good 15 minutes before her brain rebooted, and she blinked rapidly as she assimilated the event that had just occurred. "I wonder if Hinata knows about this." She said to herself as she walked down the stairs still trying to come to terms with Naruto not only having a girlfriend, but one that was certainly the most beautiful girl in their age range, and possibly even the village.

Sakura was walking through town still in a daze when she ran into Zabuza and Kakashi, and was stopped from doing it literally when the one eyed pervert put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" He asked with obvious concern.

She stared up at him for a minute before she came back to reality. "I'm sorry what did you say, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi glanced at Zabuza before leaning down closer to the girl's level. "I asked if you're ok. You were walking around in your own little world."

"Oh I'm fine I just got one hell of a surprise is all." She said trying to put her brain back in order.

"Why don't you tell me about it? Maybe I can help." Kakashi said kindly.

"I don't know what help you can give besides some things you picked up from constantly reading your "pervert bible"." She said not really paying attention to the conversation.

Her sensei's one visible eye widened hearing this, and dropped down to look her in the eye. "What are you talking about, Sakura?"

"I went to talk to Naruto this morning, and found out he has been sleeping with Haku." She said not even realizing Zabuza was only a few feet from her.

"WHAT?" The one armed man roared emitting an intense blast of KI.

Sakura started to back away covering her mouth as what she had said and in front of who it was said hit her. "Uhh...ummm…I…shit" She said hoping that the "Demon of the Mist" didn't go on another killing spree.

"The little shit is dead!" Zabuza growled out as he began stomping toward Naruto's apartment leaving 3 inch deep imprints every time he took a step only to come to a dead stop after 20 feet. "When did the old man say the pervert was going to get here?"

"Sometime in the next couple weeks. Why?" The jonin asked not looking up from his book.

Zabuza got a very evil grin on his face as he turned around. "I think me and Hiashi need to have a little chat especially considering how his little princess would do _anything_ the gaki asked."

Kakashi actually looked up his one eye widening. "You don't think Hinata would…"

"Do you honestly think she would say no to Naruto?" Zabuza said with a pointed look.

Sakura was lost trying to understand what they were talking about as she watched Kakashi put his book away, and shunshin away with Zabuza. She had actually made it to within a block of her house when she finally understood what Zabuza was talking about. "NARUTO!" She yelled loud enough to cause an echo off of the Hokage Monument.

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Hinata looked over the note that had been delivered by one of the Branch family members last night, and wondered once again why Sakura wanted to meet her privately, as she walked onto training ground #7. When she reached the clearing she saw the pink haired girl standing by the 3 training posts.

"O…ohayo, Sakura-san. H...how are y…you this morning?" The white eyed girl asked in her usual stutter when Naruto isn't around.

"Ohayo, Hinata." Sakura replied hesitant to tell Hinata about Haku and Naruto. "You might want to sit down, I have something to tell you that you probably won't like."

Hinata looked at the other girl with a worried look before slowly sitting down with her back against one of the training posts. "What is it? Has something happened to Naruto-kun?"

Sakura nodded slowly and sat down infront of one of the other training posts. "Naruto is fine, but yes it does involve him." She breathed deeply for a moment not really wanting to tell the timid girl about what she had heard and seen. "I really don't know how to say this, but I feel that you should know. I am sorry, Hinata, but you should know this since you feel the way you do about Naruto."

Hinata's worry had grown with each word, and now was in tears fearing what Sakura had to tell her. Her hands were clasped so tightly that blood had started to flow from where her fingernails were piercing the skin.

"Hinata…I hate to say this but…You should give up on Naruto." The pink haired girl said quietly as she looked away from the lavender eyed girl.

Hinata stared at the girl dreading that her worst fear from the academy was true, but had to ask none the less. "Wh…why? What aren't you telling me, Sakura-san?" She asked with a shaky voice filled with all of her so far repressed emotions.

Sakura sighed heavily before she slowly answered. "Naruto … he is _involved_ with a girl from our last mission."

The way the pinkette had spoken left no room for doubt, but Hinata just couldn't believe that _HER_ Naruto-kun would just pick up some girl like that. "Naruto-kun isn't like that. There is no way I will believe that he is involved with some hussy!" Hinata's voice had started out quiet, but it grew stronger with each word until she was all but shouting, and cause Sakura to stare at her like she had just grown 3 more heads.

"I saw them myself, Hinata." She said after getting over her surprise. "When I went to talk with him the other day he was at her apartment, and they had just gotten out of bed. He was only wearing sweatpants, and she was in a short nightgown. She also walked with a slight limp." Sakura's expression and intonation conveyed the significance of the last bit of information.

Hinata stared at the other girl with her Byakugan activating and deactivating unconsciously for several minutes causing Sakura to get increasingly worried. If she had known what was going on inside the Hyuuga girl's head she probably would have ran to Inoichi for help.

Inside Hinata's head some of her fantasies of her and Naruto in a similar wardrobe to what Sakura had described were being torn asunder with the invasion of what she imagined this unknown girl to look like. Very soon her imagination began to alter her imaginings twisting to her match her inner turmoil. At first they were about Naruto finding love with another, but then quickly went downhill to him being the victim of some manipulative, abusive, uncaring, whore that used her beloved Naruto as nothing more than a slave. It didn't help that she had nightmares like this before with the only difference being that the girl had pink hair.

When news of this day, and spread, some would say that the Hyuuga heir had a mental breakdown while others would say that she had just come out of her shell. After all "It's always the quiet ones." Isn't it? Hinata slowly stood up with her Byakugan fully active, and faced the direction of Naruto's apartment.

"I will not allow some_ jezebel_ to hurt **MY **Naruto-kun!" The previously timid girl growled out with a voice full of steel and the promise of blood soon to be spilled. "I will protect him no matter what!"

Sakura's worry quickly turned to fear at hearing this, and had to wonder if telling her really was the right thing. As she watched Hinata storm off with a determination never seen before she prayed to Kami-sama that nothing bad would happen from this.

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While Sakura was telling Hinata the life altering news the subject of their discussion was training in the woods behind the Hokage monument. With over 200 shadow clones broke up into 5 groups doing chakra control exorcizes the man himself was taking a short break from his own training as determined by the Jagon.

'I wonder how Haku-chan's test is going. I know Jiji will be there so I know whatever jonin he picked won't do anything, but…' Naruto sighed looking up at the sky lost in his thoughts about his recently discovered bloodlines, and how they will affect Haku's opinion of him as well as that of the villagers.

Many of the villagers openly hated, while others simply disliked him for his past pranks, and yet more acted as if he didn't even exist. Thanks to the Sandaime's Law and the mind's ability to disbelieve reality for something more logical and mentally acceptable only a very few actually tried to hurt him. This by no means meant he had an easy life, but far from it actually. He was refused service at many stores, sold thing at inflated prices at the few he could go into, and more often than not received sub-par goods. Over the years his life had gotten a little better as people's hate slowly faded, but it was still far from where any normal orphan turned ninja was. As he pushed himself up to resume his training he resolved to talk with Sarutobi about this in hopes his grandfather figure could help him.

Meanwhile Haku was at the designated training ground for her skill test talking with the Hokage as they waited for the jonin to appear.

"So, Haku, what do you think of Konoha so far?" The old man asked as he puffed on his piped.

"It is not what I expected, Hokage-sama. It is a lot more relaxed and peaceful then I thought it would be except for a few things…" The pale beauty said softly thinking about the looks some of the villagers had directed at Naruto.

Sarutobi took a moment to examine her curious about her last statement. "I hope no one caused you any trouble. I would like to know if anyone has, and I promise that it will be dealt with."

Haku for her part didn't show any outward sign, but internally she was debating telling the Hokage that his village had so much hate for one so honorable as the boy she had fallen for so quickly. Finally she made up her mind, and told him about what she had seen. "While most of the people were either indifferent or at least semi-friendly there were a surprising number of people that showed such a level of hate that goes beyond that of being the victim of a prank since I know none of Naruto-kun's pranks ever hurt anyone. He doesn't deserve their hate or the treatment he receives at most of the shops either. Hokage-sama, why is he treated like that still and why is it still allowed?" She inquired seriously looking at Sarutobi.

The old man sighed while looking into the bowl of his pipe thinking about how to best address the issue before he spoke. "As you probably already know Naruto's parents died when the Kyuubi attacked. Sadly the villagers you speak of are taking out their grief, hatred, anger, and loss out of Naruto because of the sealing of the Fox his father did. You cannot tell anyone as it is an S class secret. I hope you understand my position on this, Haku." He said sadly wishing there was someone who he could trust to succeed him so he could rest his old bones.

"I understand, Hokage-sama." She said bowing deeply in respect even though her voice made it plain that she disliked it more than just a little.

It was at this time the jonin that was supposed to be testing her should up in a swirl of leaves caused by the well known shunshin technique. It was a slightly tall man with a senbon in his mouth wearing the standard jonin attire worn by many of the jonin that were normally within the village.

"Ah, Genma, glad to see you. You can begin whenever you are ready." The oldest one there said with authority as he leaned back against a tree to watch the "skill match"

Haku bowed to Genma slipping senbon into her hands as she did so. "Shall we begin?"

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Hinata was growing increasingly agitated looking for Naruto. She had first gone to his apartment, but found that he wasn't home. Over the next several hours she scoured the town looking for him hitting all his normal haunts. Ichiraku's, the academy, the Hokage tower, and training ground 7 before she went over every inch of the market district. She was so thorough in her search that she had to rest a few times from keeping her Byakugan active, and not once did she see the tell tale sign of red chakra that signaled Naruto's presence. Now it was nearing sundown, and decided to try one last place before trying his apartment again. If she still couldn't find him then she decided to confront the Hokage himself.

She made her way through the woods following the trail up the back of the Hokage monument not knowing that for once Naruto had used the stairs down the front of the monument when he realized the sun had started to set. Around 15 minutes after he left Hinata appeared atop the monument only finding traces that he had been there recently. With her jaw set she hurried her way to Naruto's apartment. As she neared she saw two chakra signatures in the apartment, one of which she immediately saw was Naruto while she didn't recognize the other, and assumed it to be the girl Sakura had told her about.

This thought enraged Hinata beyond the point of rational thought. Jumping from a rooftop onto the front porch she kicked the door in causing the doorframe to splinter since the deadbolt had been locked. At the sound Haku, who had already showered and changed, and was now wearing a light knee length dress and an apron, turn around with the chef's knife she was using to chop vegetables with in hand. Hinata's eyes narrowed at the girl as she stalked forward towards her prey. Seeing the aggressiveness of the one who had barged in Haku took up a defensive stance intent on capturing and interrogating this intruder.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY NARUTO-KUN YOU SLUT!" Hinata went to strike Haku with the Hyuuga's Hakke Sanjūni Shō, and was shocked when her assault was stopped by a hand gripping her wrist. Unknown to either of them Naruto had heard the noise, and hopped out of the shower with just a towel wrapped around his waist.

"What the hell is going on here?" Naruto asked squeezing the wrist slightly upset that had not only broke into his home, but also attacked Haku in the process. Granted he was surprised it was the mouse of a girl known as Hinata, but since the girl he knew would never do something like this he assumed it was a henge.

Hinata had been shocked when her attack had been stopped, but was totally stunned by who it was. Her eyes wandered over the wet muscled chest infront of her not having heard the question Naruto had asked or the pressure on her wrist. The lavender eyed heiress's eyes were jerked to his face when he yanked her wrist up twisting it as he did so.

"What are you doing here? I won't ask again!" He growled out digging his thumb into the cluster of nerves just above the wrist joint.

With the stab of pain received from her wrist Hinata's eyes widened totally, and started to fill with tears at what she had done. "I…I…G…gomen" She cried as her body slumped in misery as she cried.

Naruto looked over to Haku confused at the turn of events only to get a shrug in response. Sighing he looked at Hinata considering his options at this point. At a loss he looked at Haku hoping she had an idea, but got no help as she had went back to cooking. As luck would have it a couple ANBU appeared at this point if the bandages on their hands were any indication.

"Is everything alright, Uzumaki-san?" One of the masked men asked.

"I'm not sure. For some reason Hinata broke in and attacked Haku-chan while she was making dinner. I heard the noise, and rushed out of the shower in time to stop her attack. I had started to ask her why she broke in when you showed up." Naruto said loosening his grip on the heiress.

"I see. Can either of you confirm this?" The assumed leader of the group asked looking at both of girls.

Haku merely nodded her head not wanting dinner to burn. Hinata's crying had slowed by this point as her shame grew.

"H…hai, I…I did w…what he said." Hinata stuttered paling as she started to realize the consequences of what she had done in her jealous rage.

All of the ANBU looked at her in surprise wondering what could cause the infamously shy Hyuuga girl to snap like this. "We will take her from here, Uzumaki-san. With her confession any repair costs will be covered by the Hyuuga clan. Make sure that a copy of the bill is sent to the Hokage as well." The leader said as the other took her from Naruto.

"Hai, Kumo-san." Naruto said to the bear masked ANBU. "I'll make sure Jiji knows about it in the morning."

The ANBU nodded in reply before they all disappeared via shunshin. Naruto felt a breeze from their departure that reminded him he was wet and only wearing a towel. "Uhhh…I'll get dressed and fix the door." He said with a slight blush, before he ran into the bedroom not seeing the red on Haku's face that was not caused by the heat from the stove.

A couple hours later after they had eaten and washed the dishes the pair were sitting on the couch cuddling as they listened to the music on the radio when there was a knock on the door. Curious as to who would be visiting them this late at night Naruto got up to answer the door.

"Hey, Jiji, What's up?" Naruto asked wondering why the old man would come to his apartment like this.

"Hi, Naruto. Mind if I come in?" Saratobi asked as he tapped his pipe against the railing to empty it of the ashes.

"Sure come on in." The teen said standing aside so the Hokage could enter.

"Hello, Hokage-sama." Haku said as she bowed having stood up when he entered.

"Ah Hello, Haku. I'm sorry to disturb you two so late especially after your test, but there are a few things I need to talk to you about." He said pulling up a chair.

"Is this about Haku-chan's test?"

"In part, Naruto. I was going to hold off on that until tomorrow, but with what I have heard I thought it best to pay you two a visit."

The teens looked at each other wondering what he had heard that would cause the Hokage to personally visit them so late at night. "Are we in trouble for something?" Naruto asked since he hadn't pulled any pranks since leaving the academy.

"No you aren't in any trouble, but what I want to talk to you about might cause some problems later. First though I want to congratulate you on your test, Haku. After evaluating your skills and talking it over with the jonin involved I have decided to award you the rank of chunin." The old man smiled at her.

"Wow, Haku-chan! I knew you were good, but to get chunin so easily?" Naruto exclaimed hugging the girl with a huge grin on his face.

Haku smiled returning the hug with a deep blush from the leader of the village seeing their affectionate display.

After a few moments the old man coughed to get their attention. "Now that you have the good news I am sorry to say the rest isn't as pleasant. ANBU reported what happened earlier with the Hyuuga heiress. Do either of you know why she would do something like this?"

"Honestly, Jiji, I have no clue. I always thought Hinata was a nice, shy, kinda strange girl, and maybe a little sickly what with her always fainting, but I have no idea why she would do something like this." Naruto said scratching his head.

"I am sorry, Hokage-sama, but I too do not know why she would break in and attack me. I have not even met her before today. Naruto-kun has introduced me to some of his friends, and I have heard her name mentioned before, but as far as I know I have not done anything to cause her to attack me. I do have to wonder though why she told me to stay away from _her_ Naruto-kun, and called me a slut." Haku said in her usual respectful way.

Sarutobi looked at the two watching how Naruto took her hand, and smiled reassuringly. Deciding they were telling the truth he sighed. "With that being the case I'll send someone over to fix your door for you."

Naruto smiled with his hand still holding Haku's. "Thanks, Jiji. I did what I could, but I ain't a carpenter."

Sarutobi smiled at Naruto before taking a deep breath to address the next subject. "I need you two to be completely honest with me on what I am about to ask no matter how embarrassing it may be." He paused long enough to get their affirmative replies before continuing. "I have heard some rumors about the relationship between you that have made me a little concerned. Just how intimate have you been with each other?"

Haku blushed a deep crimson, and ducked her head while looking at Naruto out of the corner of her eye. Naruto blushed as well scratching the back of his head. "Uh...Jiji, that's not the kind of thing you're supposed to talk about."

"I know this, and respect your privacy, but I need you to answer me. Please trust me on this." He said with a gentle smile.

Naruto looked at Haku questioningly wondering how he would answer the old man since he was clueless on the subject, except for what he had learned from Haku. Haku sighed blushing slightly as she squeezed his hand and nodded.

"Hokage-sama, before I answer might I ask why you need to know such private information?" She asked formally.

"There are several reasons actually, the least of which is that Naruto is like my own grandson to me. Because of his unique position in this village as well as the fact he is the last heir of his clan the politics surrounding him are very delicate."

"If you are referring to the fact that he is the host of the Kyuubi no Yoko, and the Senju heir I already know about it. I also have no issue with Kyuubi as I am not from this village, and can tell the difference between a kunai and a storage scroll." Her voice turning as cold and harsh as the yōkai she resembled.

"I see." The old man sighed looking at Naruto sharply. "It seems that Naruto trusts you more than just about everyone in the village, but that is one of the reasons I need to ask this."

Haku's gaze softened and she nodded accepting what he said. "I understand your concern, Hokage-sama, but this is the only time this discussion will happen." Haku said with finality. "Naruto and I have not made love yet. We have talked about it and have decided to wait until we are both ready. We have also discussed our future together, and I can assure you that I _will_ carry his children in my womb when _we_ choose to become parents."

Saratobi saw Naruto smile when she brought his hand over her stomach, and kissed her on the cheek brimming with happiness at her words. He sighed knowing Naruto wanted a family more than anything, and truly hoped Haku would not betray him not matter how reassuring she had been. 'I really need to talk to Zabuza and Hiashi about his engagement to Hinata, and secret marriage to Haku. We can't let this go any further then it already has.' He thought to himself exhaling deeply. "I see. Then I guess there is only one last thing to discuss… Have you had "The Talk" yet?"


	3. Chapter 3

**(AN: I have gone over and edited all of the chapters of this story and my other story Naruto Strife. I apologize about the delay in posting any new chapters, but RL got in the way.)**

Haku and Naruto shared a "What the fuck?" look before turning back to the Hokage with confusion.

"Why do you want to know that, Jiji?"

Saratobi glanced at Haku while coughing into his hand. "Well you see there have been rumors about the two of you, and how fast your relationship is progressing."

Haku looked at the old man with a delicately arched eyebrow raised. "What exactly are these rumors, Hokage-sama, and why does our _personal_ relationship warrant your attention?" She asked in a tone that could match her bloodline with its coldness.

"How much does she know, Naruto?" He asked with a sigh.

"_EVERYTHING_." The teen replied with a dead serious expression, and emphasizing the word to leave no room for doubt.

"Ok that makes this easier. It is because of his special status, and the fact it is an S rank village secret. It basically means that no one under 20 or not of jonin rank knows about it. This includes all of his friends since you are the first he has told. Then there is also the fact that he is like a grandson to me." He paused making sure Haku understood, and continued after getting a nod in response. "The rumors…Well they say that you two are more than just friends. As a matter of fact the most recent one is about just how intimate you are."

While Haku merely crossed her legs leaning back into the couch, Naruto was a different story. His expression was at first confused, but as comprehension sparked it quickly turned to anger. "Jiji, just what do these rumors say?" He asked in a voice that promised lots and lots of pain if he didn't like what he heard. It was one thing for people to trash talk about him, but it was a different story where his precious people were concerned.

"Calm down, Naruto. The rumors are not that bad and these specific ones seem to have started from the Rookie 9. They just say that you two are a couple, and that you have…_consummated_ the relationship." He looked away with a slight blush not wanting to think about the boy that had become the grandson of his heart if not blood. With a cough he turned back to the couple on the couch. "Now that that is cleared up there are some things you need to be aware of."

Over the next hour Sarutobi slowly, and hesitantly tried to explain the "Birds and the Bees" to the teens. The process was nearly laughable considering the number of times he paused as he had to recover from his embarrassment or perverted thoughts of a dark haired pale skinned beauty began clouding his mind. This however was brought to a stop by Haku when she stood up to gain his attention.

"I appreciate you doing this for Naruto-kun, Hokage-sama, but I am sure you have better things to do with your time. Another thing is that it seems you have not read the report about my medical knowledge, and the fact I am more than prepared to explain or prevent anything unwanted that might occur." She said ushering him out the door. When he was finally outside the apartment she smiled licking her lips sensually speaking in a husky tone that sent a shiver down his aged spine. "Naruto is such a good _hands on_ learner." She all but purred before slamming the door in his face, and locking it.

While Sarutobi walked away giggling perversely sporting a slight nosebleed Haku shook her head, and sat down on the couch next to Naruto. With a sigh of contentment she rested her head on his shoulder enjoying the feel of his body heat as she cuddled up to his side.

"For a closet pervert Jiji sure had a lot of trouble talking about that. If he had gone on much longer I would have started laughing in his face." Naruto said as he slipped his arm around Haku's waist.

Haku closed her eyes and scooted closer to Naruto until their hips were touching. "I know. It's really sad that the Hokage of all people would have trouble talking about something as simple and commonplace as sex. I do feel a little insulted though that he doesn't have faith in you or my medical knowledge. I mean seriously! It's like he thinks I'd forget to take precautions if we were at that stage of our relationship."

Naruto chuckled softly at how cute Haku was with her lips pursed in a pout. "Yeah you'd think he'd know me better than that by now." Lowering his head until Haku could feel his breath on her ear he whispered huskily. "No matter how much I want to _worship_ the body of my yuki-tenshi."

Haku blushed slightly, and her breathing hitched as his words sparked her arousal. "Naru-koi, you promised."

He smiled softly rubbing her hip. "Yes, and I always keep my promises. Nothing more intimate than kisses and cuddles until you and Zabuza are official members of Konoha."

Looking at him with half lidded eyes through her eyelashes and enjoying the aroused yet sleepy state she was in spoke softly as if she was unconsciously voicing her thoughts. "If my apartment wasn't so close I'd let Otou-san have it when I move in."

Naruto looked at her in surprise his eyes softening when he saw how sleepy she was despite the heat he saw in her eyes. "Let's go to bed, Hime." He said softly picking her up. After he laid her on the bed he removed his shirt, and slid in next to her. Slipping an arm around her as she cuddled up to him with a muffled "Warm" he watched her breathing even out adoring how the moonlight only made her look more like an angel.

"For once there is a promise I don't want to keep." He breathed thinking about how hard it was not to join their bodies similarly to how their hearts have before he too fell into unconsciousness.

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With the vacation Saratobi had given them over Haku went to the Hokage's office to report for duty assignment, and Team 7 was once again meeting at their training ground. Naruto yawned from his position on the branch of a tree as he settled in for a nap while waiting for Kakashi to show up. Sasuke was sitting under a tree about 10 yards away brooding while Sakura in her typical fan girl way tried to get him to go on a date with her. This went on for nearly two hours before Kakashi finally showed up.

"Yo." The one eyed jonin said as he appeared near them genin.

"You're late!" Sakura screeched while glaring at him.

"Sorry there was a little girl that had lost her cat, and was crying as she desperately tried to find it. Being the gentleman I am I can't resist the tear filled eyes of a girl, and had to help her find it." Kakashi eye smiled.

"LIAR!" Was the piercing shriek that was heard causing Naruto to jerk awake, and fall out of the tree.

"Gah! What the hell, Sakura? Did you make a nails on chalkboard jutsu?" Naruto growled as he dusted himself off giving the pinkette a dirty look.

'Well that's a switch.' Kakashi thought to himself surprised at how the blonde was reacting to Sakura, and by the looks on her and Sasuke's faces he wasn't the only one.

"Enough guys I have an announcement to make. I have decided to nominate you for the upcoming chunin exams. Whether or not you participate is up to you." Pulling out the consent forms he handed one to each of them before continuing. "If you want to try to become chunin you will have to fill these out and report to room 301 at the academy by 3pm tomorrow. Ja ne." With his task done he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Naruto already knew he was going to participate in the exam so he pocketed the form, and walked over to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura, can I talk with you for a moment?"

The pink haired girl who had been biting her lip while staring at the form jerked her head up, and scowled at the blonde. "What do you want, Naruto-baka?"

Just barely he managed to repress the sigh and eye rolling he so wanted to do glad that he could finally stop pretending to be infatuated with the banshee. "I want to know if you could do me a favor. Haku-chan has some shopping to do, and I was wondering if maybe you and Ino could help her."

Crossing her arms Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Can't you take her yourself?"

Blushing slightly he scratched the back of his head. "Normally yeah, but I can't this time. I have to talk with Jiji, and well…uh…She needs female things."

It was a couple moments before she realized what he was referring to, but when she did her eyes widened. "Oh! Sure I can help her. After all I'm sure she is itching to get away from you considering how useless and annoying you are."

Naruto let the insult slide by imagining the expression on her face if she found them asleep together. "Thanks, Sakura, I'm sure she'll be happy to have some girl time. Just tell the cashier that everything Haku buys is on the Hokage's bill." He said with his usual foxy smile.

Hearing this elicited a reaction that anyone who has any experience with either fan girls or women shopping with someone else's money would recognize. A high pitched squeal of almost hypersonic proportions resounded through the clearing causing Naruto to clamp his hands over his ears, and Sasuke to run for his life.

"Oh I will definitely get Ino-pig to help. We can't let Haku go without essentials that every woman needs. Don't expect her back until late afternoon/early evening."

"Thanks, Sakura, I knew I could count on you!" Naruto beamed before running off with a wave on his way to the Hokage Tower.

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While Sakura gathered up Ino and Haku for the impromptu shopping spree courtesy of the Hokage, albeit unbeknownst to him, Naruto went to speak with the old man. Ignoring the dirty look from the secretary Naruto walked right into the Hokage's office without knocking.

"Hey, Jiji, you got a few minutes? There is something important I need to talk to you about." He said closing the door behind him.

"I always have time for you, Naruto." Sarutobi said with a smile. "What is it you want to talk about?"

Taking a seat in one of the chairs the teen put a serious expression on his face as his eyes darted to the most likely places that the Hokage's personal ANBU guards could be hiding. "Could you use that silencing jutsu you have? I don't want this known to anyone besides you and me."

Not missing the look on Naruto's face Sarutobi signals for the ANBU to leave, and seals the room with a security jutsu. "What is so important to make you so serious, Naruto?" The Hokage asked taking a drag from his pipe.

"Well…First off I'd like to borrow one of the generators for raiton training."

Sarutobi arched an eyebrow at this knowing he was hiding something more given the boy's body language. "Just what kind of training, Naruto?"

The blonde sighed knowing he'd have to come clean with all of his training at this point. "I had better start at the beginning. You remember how my eyes got damaged on the mission that ended with Haku coming here?" He asked hoping that this would go easier then he was thinking it would.

Sarutobi wondering where this was going simply nodded his head as he slowly puffed on his pipe. "I remember. The report said that you should have been permanently blinded during the fight on the bridge."

"Yeah I would have if the furball hadn't healed me, but that is why I need the generator. Basically what happened is that there was a surge of chakra while the fox was healing me, and it resulted in my eyes being altered, as well as a few other things." Seeing Saratobi about to say something Naruto activated the ocular bloodline showing the Jagon. "Thanks to the fox's mistake I now have a bloodline called Jagon. When my eyes changed it seems that some of the furball's knowledge was also passed to me, and I have been training in some of the things I learned from the memories. The training is pretty much just chakra control, strength, endurance, and elemental affinity training. That's why I need to use the generator so I can work on my raiton affinity, and fine tune my control more." The teen said hoping that Sarutobi wouldn't call him on the half truths he just spouted.

"I see." The Hokage said deep in thought, about what he just heard. He could tell that Naruto was nervous, and understandably so especially if the council heard how he gained the bloodline. "Tell me about your eyes? What can they do?"

"Well there are a few things it can do. I can summon a black flame, but I have to train so I don't suffer any damage from using it. I can also form an intense flame around my arms that is hot enough to melt rock. On top of that I have also gained the ability to sense chakra in a wide area depending on how much I concentrate on it."

'Sounds like a cross between the Mangekyo Sharingan and the Byakugan. I wonder if this has anything to do with the rumors about bloodlines starting from demons?' The old man thought to himself. "So I take it you've had this since before you left Wave?" He asked getting a nod in return. "I would tell you to go to the hospital for an examination, but with the Chunin Exams starting tomorrow it will have to wait as will your request to use the generators. I'll make my decision about that after you get done with the medical tests."

While not pleased with having to wait he understood why. "Ok, Jiji, just let me know when to show up at the hospital, and I'll be there."

"I'll do that while you are taking the Exams. I'll get it arranged during that time."

Naruto stood up and started to walk out, but stopped in the doorway. "Before I forget I told Sakura to take Haku on a shopping spree for some things she needs with Ino's help. I also told her to have everything billed to you since I knew you wouldn't mind." He said with a foxy grin before running out of the tower.

Sarutobi chuckled at this until he realized that he would have to pay for 3 teenage girls, two of which were fangirls; going shopping for Kami knows what. Just the thought of how much the clothes alone were going to cost him nearly gave him a heart attack. "ANBU! Bring Naruto to me at once! Call in the ones that are off duty to help if needed." He yelled wondering what else Naruto would do, and how much more paperwork it would cause.

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Two hours later Naruto is hiding in an alley under an awning having gotten bored outrunning ANBU. The blonde was preparing to leave his hiding spot when Konohamaru sprinted into the alley with a kunai in hand, and slid behind some garbage cans. Mere moments after the young boy concealed himself Iruka came running through, and kept going having not seen the academy student. After a few moments Konohamaru slipped from his hiding spot watching for Iruka, and never noticed Naruto sneak up behind him until he slapped his hand onto the boy's shoulder causing him to jump.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"Geez, Boss, give me heart attack why don't you?"

The boy would have said more. But Naruto suddenly yanked the boy into a recessed doorway with one hand over his mouth right before a couple ANBU went by on the rooftops. When they were gone Naruto released him with a chuckle.

"What did you do now, Boss?" The boy asked wondering what prank had been pulled this time.

"I had Sakura and Ino take Haku-chan out shopping, and told them to send the bill to Jiji." He said with a very fox like grin.

Konohamaru laughed having seen just how much that would cost after having been dragged along by his uncle Asuma when Kurenai got him to take her and Hinata shopping a few months ago. "That's cruel, Boss. I don't know who I pity more, Haku or Grandpa."

Naruto scratched the back of his head a bit sheepishly. "I know, but I had to go see Jiji privately, and I didn't want to upset Haku-chan." He said as they started to walk out of the alley. Their conversation moved to their training and what pranks they had done recently as they walked until they heard a shout.

"Naru-koi!"

Turning in the direction they heard the shout from they saw Haku, Ino, and Sakura all wearing new outfits, and with their hair done. Ino was wearing an indigo skirt that had a slit going half way up the left side, a strapless red shirt that seemed a size or two too small from the way it hugged her curves, and knee high leather boots that were laced up the sides. Sakura was wearing a fuchsia ankle length short sleeve dress, white Grecian style sandals that went to just above her ankles, and her hair pulled back with a pink ribbon. Haku was wearing a pale blue sundress that stopped just above her knees, her hair hanging loose down her back to just above her hips, and on her feet were open toed sandals of soft pastel blue color.

Naruto stood stock still admiring how the sunlight seemed to create a halo around Haku making her look like an angel of ethereal beauty. His face must have spoken for him if the blush Haku had was any indication. While Ino and Sakura exchanged smirks and mentally patted themselves on the back Naruto finally began to move. He slowly walked up to Haku and kissed her hand.

"Did it hurt?" He asked softly looking into her eyes.

"What?" Haku said confused about what he meant.

"Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven, Tenshi?" He said softly caressing her hand with his thumb.

Haku blushed at the compliment while Ino and Sakura grumbled that no one complimented them like that, and Konohamaru chuckled thinking that Naruto was definitely a ladies' man.

"Hey, Naruto, do I look good to?" Sakura asked acting a bit demure somewhat missing the attention the blonde used to pay to her.

Before Naruto could answer Konohamaru spoke up. "Compared to her you look like a bottle of Pepto Bismol. I wish I could find a girl like her some day."

This of course had the unintended reaction of seriously pissing off the pink haired girl that now had a huge tic mark on her forehead.

'**Who does that little shit think he is? We look so great that Sasuke-kun will ask us for a date.'** Inner Sakura said in a huff.

'Yeah! He'll be sure to make me his girlfriend when he sees us in this outfit!' Sakura said picturing said Uchiha on his knees with a bouquet of flowers.

"Hey, Boss, can you teach me how to get someone as pretty as Haku-neechan, and not one that looks like a walking medicine bottle?" The oblivious kid asked of his idol.

'**Oh hell no he didn't call us a medicine bottle! Let's kick his ass!'** Inner Sakura shouted.

Sakura mentally nodded in agreement as she stomped toward the youngest of the Sarutobi clan. Konohamaru didn't realize the danger he was in until he was knocked on his ass by the pinkette.

"Watch your mouth, gaki! You shouldn't talk to pretty women like that!" She growled out crossing her arms.

Konohamaru rubbed his head glaring up at Sakura. "There are no pretty women here. Haku-neechan is a beautiful woman, Ino is a pretty girl, and you are the bastard child of a banshee and an ogre!"

Sadly Sakura's reaction only proved Konohamaru right when she screeched and ran after the boy intent on beating him to a bloody pulp. Naruto sighed watching the scene.

"We'd better go after them before Sakura hurts him too much." He said before giving chase with Haku right behind him.

After a couple blocks Konohamaru ran into someone that looked like a 3rd rate cross dresser from the cheap section of the red light district, who picked him up by the shirt.

"Watch where you're going brat!" The growled out menacingly.

"Put me down! I am the grandson of the Hokage!" Konohamaru said as he struggled to get free.

"Kankaro, you should put him down. We don't want to cause trouble." A blonde girl in a black battle kimono with a large fan on her back said seeing Naruto, Haku, Ino, and Sakura arrive.

"I'm just going to teach this little shit a lesson is all." The now named boy said as he drew back his fist.

Before the punch could land Kankaro suddenly found a kunai to his throat courtesy of Naruto while the blonde girl found herself in a similar situation thanks to Haku pressing a senbon against her jugular.

"You have terrible manners to be acting this way in someone else's village." Naruto said in a deathly whisper causing Kankaro to sweat.

Before anything else could be said or done a harsh voice spoke up from a nearby tree. "You are a disgrace to Suna, Kankaro."

"G...Gaara, it's not my fault." The makeup coated boy tried to explain.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." The red head said as he appeared on the ground via a sand shunshin.

Naruto backed away from Kankaro eyeing the new arrival cautiously after getting a warning from Kyuubi about the boy. Haku moved to a position near Naruto with her senbon ready since her experienced senses told her the red head was dangerous. Gaara looked over the Konoha nin until his eyes landed on Naruto.

"What is your name?" The red head asked in an emotionless voice.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He replied his eyes never leaving Gaara's.

"Subaku no Gaara." Gaara said as he began to walk away. "Kankaro, Temari, let's go."

Sakura, who had remained silent so far, chose this time to speak up. "What are foreign ninja doing here?"

The girl now identified as Temari looked over her shoulder with a sneer. "We're here for the Chunin Exams. You must really be as stupid as you are ugly if you don't know it starts tomorrow."

"Ino, Sakura, if you come across him in the exams run. That Gaara is very dangerous." Naruto said as he helped Konohamaru up.

"There is nothing to worry about. Sasuke-kun will protect me if anything happens." The pinkette said actually believing it.

"You should listen him, Sakura-san. Those three are very dangerous. Especially the red headed boy. It would be a grave mistake to underestimate them." The pale beauty stated quite seriously.

Sakura merely grunted while Ino looked worried, and was having second thoughts about entering the exam. The group parted ways with Konohamaru heading back to the academy, Sakura and Ino heading to a café, and Haku heads back home with Naruto promising to make them lunch.

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The next morning Naruto woke up to the smell of bacon, toast, and eggs. Getting out of bed he stretched, and caught the sound of someone singing softly. Walking out of the bedroom he saw Haku making breakfast as she sung to herself. The sight made it impossible not to smile, and he leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed enjoying the show. A few minutes later when Haku was plating the meal he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Good morning, Yuki-tenshi."

Haku leaned back into him with a smile as she placed her arms over his. "Mmm…Good morning, Naru-koi. Did you sleep well?"

"How could I not with a beautiful angel lying next to me?" He said nuzzling her neck.

"Breakfast will get cold if you keep that up." She said softly knowing that today was going to be busy for both of them.

"Hai hai." He said kissing the spot where her neck met her shoulder before picking up the plates and setting them on the table.

Haku grabbed the chopsticks before sitting down with him to eat. After the meal was done and the dishes were taken care of they sat down on the couch, each with a cup of tea.

"What are you going to be doing while I'm busy with the Exams?" Naruto asked slightly worried about being away from her.

"Hokage-sama has assigned me to help the medics for the Exams when needed since my internship at the hospital has gone so well." She said between sips of tea.

"I'm glad that you're doing so well there. They haven't been giving you a hard time have they?" He asked hoping that the civilian staff wasn't harassing her because of him.

"There have been a few idiots, but they keep themselves to snide remarks. I did have to teach one of the orderlies a lesson when he kept pestering me for a date, and wouldn't take no for an answer."

Naruto growled hearing this. "Who was it? I'll rip his balls off!"

Haku smiled and placed a delicate hand over his. "Don't worry about it, Naru-koi. I encased him in ice from the waist down, and when the head nurse found out what happened he was assigned to empty the bedpans in the geriatric ward for the next month."

Naruto snickered at the thought of the orderly having to deal with cranky old people with bowel issues. "Ok I guess that's a fitting punishment, but if he tries anything again I'll prank him so hard his hair will fall out."

Haku leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. "I am so lucky to have you as my champion." She said with a smile letting her breath caress his ear.

The blonde's face reddened slightly as a nice shiver went down his spine. "Ha…Haku-chan, you know what that does to me!" He whined as he fought his hormones, which was exceedingly hard considering the view he had from Haku leaning forward.

The ice maiden giggled as she picked up her tea. "Do I?" She said coyly as she sipped her tea with a slight smile. Taking pleasure from how she could fluster the energetic teen so easily. Getting up she put the cup in the sink with a sway to her hips. On her way to the door she ran her fingers along his jaw increasing the sway in her hips. "I may have a present for you if you make it to the finals, _Goshuujin-sama._"

Naruto sputtered upon hearing not just what she said but how she said it, and could only stare as she left the apartment giggling. Nearly 15 minutes went by before he could pull himself together, and decided that a cold shower was in order. A _very very_ cold shower. After spending a solid 30 minutes in ice cold water he got dressed and armed himself for the Exams. Checking the time he decided to take a leisurely walk to the academy to get his head in the game. As he walked he saw there were a lot more people out and about including those from the other ninja villages participating in the Exams. There was still had a little over half an hour before the deadline when Naruto finally arrived at the academy. Seeing Sakura and Sasuke he walked over waving.

"Hey guys!" He said loudly when he got near them.

"What took you so long, Naruto-baka? We've been here for over an hour now!" The pink haired banshee yelled shaking her fist.

"About time you showed up, Dobe. Hurry up before we get disqualified." Sasuke said in his usual arrogant tone as he headed into the building.

When they reached the second floor they saw a crowd gathered by around some people trying to get into a door.

"Fools." Sasuke said seeing through the genjutsu thanks to his bloodline. "Leave them to be disqualified we don't have much time." Sasuke said with a sneer, and headed up the stairs with the rest of Team 7 following.

As they got to the right room they saw Kakashi leaning against the wall.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked oblivious to the hidden meaning behind the Exams with her obsession about Sasuke.

"I am here to congratulate you on showing up as a team. If you had not you wouldn't be allowed to take the Exams."

"What?" Sasuke growled out not liking the fact that his passing was dependant on his teammates.

"In order for any of you to take the Exams you all would have to show up. If even one of you had decided not to enter then none of you would be allowed to take the test." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"Why didn't you tell us before, Sensei?" Naruto asked wondering if they even had a chance of making chunin since Sasuke thought that others only got in his way, and Sakura would only follow Sasuke like a lost puppy.

"You could consider it the first part of the Exams. Being a chunin is about more than just fighting ability. As a chunin you must also work as part of a team, and have to rely on them just as they will rely on you." The Cyclops said as he pushed off the wall. "Good luck team, and come back chunin."

Walking through the doors Team 7 observed nearly 200 genin from several villages trying to become chunin. The room was awash with bloodlust, anger, arrogance, fear, and several other emotions. While Sakura had begun to get very worried, and Sasuke smirked arrogantly, Naruto was carefully taking note of the teams that Jagon and Kyuubi were telling him might dangerous.

"Troublesome. You guys are taking the Exams too." Said a lazy voice belonging to one Nara Shikamaru.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Was yelled by Yamanaka Ino right before she took one of his arms possessively.

"Get off him, Ino-pig!" Sakura said before she started yet another argument with the blonde girl.

As the two fangirls fought over the Uchiha Team 8 walked up to the group having heard them from across the room. "What are you doing here? With the dobe on your team you are gonna fail and no bloodline is going to help!" He laughed not knowing about Naruto's new eyes.

Not only did Kiba manage to piss off Sasuke he unwittingly pissed off the Jagan. Before either Sasuke or Naruto could respond to the insult there was a large puff of smoke at the front of the room as a large group of chunin and jonin appeared.

"Alright, maggots, shut up and form a line. The first stage of the Exams are about to begin. Each slip of paper has the number for your seat." Morino Ibiki the jonin head of Konoha's I&T growled out.

Over the next several minutes the chunin hopefuls went to their assigned seats as Ibiki wrote out the rules for the test, and Naruto soon realized the test was a written exam.

"**Fear not. Now that you house me you can read others' surface thoughts. I was not going to let you use this power yet as I have yet to find you worthy of it, but that dog boy has raised my ire."** The Jagon said with a tone that said he was still angered by Kiba.

'Wait! You mean I can do mind tricks like the Yamanaka can now?' Naruto asked silently as the prank possibilities ran through his mind.

"**What I can do is more than mere "tricks", boy. Now act like you are trying to work out the questions while focusing on someone in the room for the answers."**

Naruto did just that and found some of what he heard ranged from the pathetic and comical to downright disturbing. Finally he locked onto someone with the answers, and filled out the test at a slow rate so as not to draw attention to himself. 45 minutes later Ibiki got everyone's attention announcing that it was time for the last question. Naruto was tempted to yell out, but refrained himself after being told that the more that dropped out the better his chances to make chunin. Soon the number of teams had dwindled to less than 30, and Ibiki congratulated everyone on passing. As he was explaining the purpose of the test and their responsibilities as chunin the window suddenly shattered, and a woman wearing a trench coat, skirt, and fishnet leaving very little to the imagination announced herself as the proctor for the 2nd stage of the Exams.

"Listen up meat bags! My name is Mitarashi Anko, and proctor for the second stage of the exams. Those of you left meet me at Training Ground 44 in 2 hours. Anyone that is late will be disqualified along with the rest of their team."

With that said Anko, Ibiki, and the chunin disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto waited for the crowd to thin before walking out. Since the training ground was only 10 minutes outside Konoha proper he decided to get something to eat before heading over there. After spending an hour at Ichiraku's he paid his bill, and headed to the Forest of Death arriving 20 minutes early. Seeing only a few chunin he didn't know he decided to talk with Jagan and Kyuubi about future training sessions after the exams were over. He was brought back to reality when Anko started her lecture on how the 2nd stage was geared toward survival, and that it would be team verses team. Naruto had activated the Jagan listening to her with only half an ear as he scanned for Haku. When she got to the part about how the nickname for the training ground was the Forest of Death it was coincidentally the same time he has caught Haku thinking about studying up on silencing jutsu so Zabuza wouldn't hear her giving Naruto his present after he made it to the finals causing him to laugh.

Anko may not have been the blood lusting, sex crazed, psychopath that her reputation made her out to be, but it was one she carefully molded, and was proud of so a mere genin laughing pissed her off. Deciding to make an example of him for the others she threw a kunai, and used **shunshin** to get behind him having no idea about the training he had gone through since Wave. Naruto dodged the kunai, and sensing the chakra spike spun around only to end up with one hand under her coat, the other up her skirt, and in a lip lock with the Tokubetsu Jonin. While they were both surprised by this Naruto recovered first feeling the temperature drop. Using Anko's shock against her he quickly swiped the scrolls from her coat before stepping back with a smirk.

"Not bad, but I have to admit that Haku-tenshi kisses a lot better." With a mischievous glint in his eyes his smirk widens before taking one last shot at the jonin. "Plus her ass is a lot firmer." Seeing Anko's expression turn down right evil as she grabbed a kunai he used a kawarimi to switch with a chair near Haku barely evading getting stabbed. Moving quickly he pulled Haku tightly to him, and kissed her deeply earning a muffled moan from her. Even though she thoroughly enjoyed the kiss it didn't alleviate all of her anger. Breaking the kiss for some much needed air the pair ignored the catcalls from the genin. Tightening the hug Naruto nuzzled her neck as he whispered softly.

"Please don't be angry, my yuki-tenshi. You are the only woman I dream of."

Haku breathed deeply taking in the feel of him in her arms as well as his scent before pulling back. "I know, koishii, but we will talk about this later. Right now I think you should get back to your team before Anko-sempai gets back up here."

Naruto glanced over to where Haku was looking, and paled when he saw Anko stomping towards them. Swallowing heavily he quickly kissed Haku once again, and told her he loved her before exchanging places with the chair he used earlier. He scratched the back of his head with a lopsided grin as Anko growled having missed her prey once again. A senior chunin placed a hand on Anko's shoulder, and whispered in her ear calming her down slightly. Casting one last glare at Naruto she addressed the genin once more.

"Since the Ice Princess's boy toy has thawed her out some maybe now we can continue." Anko said looking pointedly at Naruto causing Haku to blush.

After a moment Anko went on to tell them about the chances of dying, and handed out the release waivers. In short order Team 7 had turned them in to get their scroll, and moved to their assigned gate. Naruto waited impatiently for the gate to open so he could get this stage over. The reason for his impatience was very simple. He would be away from Haku for nearly a week, and was dreading it. 15 minutes that felt like an eternity for Naruto later the gate finally opened, and Team 7 started 5 days that would change their lives more then they every could have imagined.

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While the newest generations of ninjas were fighting, a meeting between those who had earned their rank time and again through the years was taking place. At the head of the table was a political and economic powerhouse by the name of Hyuuga Hiashi. Due to the importance, and formality of the occasion there were several servants kneeling along the walls, a geisha to properly serve tea, and aids to insure that what was discussed was instantly put on paper. As he watched his guests Hiashi was glad he had ordered the geisha to perform a chakai instead of a chaji.

He could tell that Momochi Zabuza was an impatient man, and from the way his eyes jerked around his tolerance for proper etiquette was quickly shrinking. The other guest seemed completely at ease in comparison. The aged man sat calmly puffing on his pipe belying the aura of authority and power that saturated the air around him. Even with as busy as the most powerful man in the village Sarutobi Hiruzen he had made time for this meeting. When their eyes met Hiashi got the implied message in the older man's eyes. "Hurry up. I have work to do, and he looks ready to chew through the floor."

The clan head held back a sigh at the lack of adherence to proper protocol, and gestured for the geisha to finish serving tea. With that done he looked over to the aid whose job it was to inscribe what was said to prevent any problems later. Seeing he was ready he gestured so that the rest of the aids knew the meeting was about to start.

"Is there anything either of you wish to discuss before we begin this meeting?"

While Zabuza merely grunted Hiruzen set his pipe down, and took a sip of tea before answering.

"How has Hinata been, and have you told her about the purpose of this meeting?" The old man asked.

"My daughter's behavior that night is inexcusable for one of her station. When not with her team she has been barred from training, and has been assigned to help out the Branch House with menial tasks. She seems to truly regret her actions, and is in fear of Uzumaki-san's reaction from what her handlers have reported. I have ordered that she is not to know about this meeting or anything pertaining to it until after we have reached an accord." Hiashi said in a tightly controlled tone despite the fact he was still quite upset with Hinata over the shame she brought to the clan by attacking Haku.

Hiruzen took a long sip of tea as he eyed Hiashi before gently setting the cup down for the geisha to refill. "I see. Do you have anything, Zabuza?" Getting a negative shake of the head in reply he took another sip of tea before speaking.

"Then let this meeting officially begin. We are here to discuss the possibility of Hyuuga Hinata joining with Uzumaki Naruto. Is everyone in agreement with that?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hiashi spoke respectfully.

"Yeah." Zabuza said unhappy about this seeing as it might cause problems for Haku.

Hiashi held out a hand to one of the aids, and was given a scroll with a marriage contract for Hinata and Naruto. Lying the scroll down on the table he slid it in Hiruzen's direction. "As you can see it is a standard marriage contract concerning a clan heiress."

"As long as you understand that Haku will be the matriarch since they are already together, and Hinata will be intruding on their relationship there shouldn't be any problems." Zabuza said with a casual dismissal of the contract Sarutobi was going over.

"Oh? Why should some orphan you adopted have that honor when Hinata has been trained for years in the duties of heiress?" Hiashi said arrogantly.

"Your daughter might have the knowledge, but she sure as hell doesn't have the will. That girl has no strength of spirit, and would be overwhelmed in any situation where Naruto wasn't by her side. Haku on the other hand has proven herself strong enough to stand by Naruto's side, and not behind him."

For the next few minutes Zabuza and Hiashi traded insults disguised as negotiations while Sarutobi read over the document the Hyuuga had prepared. When he was done he rolled the scroll back up and slapped it against his palm loudly. "Hyuuga-san, I have to say that this document is preposterous. Hyuuga superiority, tithes, council vote binding, and mandatory use of the Cage Bird Seal on any children that show the Byakugan. This reads like it was drawn up by Fugaku. I am disappointed in you, Hiashi." Hiruzen said harshly before using a minor Katon jutsu to incinerate the scroll.

Hearing this Zabuza's arm started to move as if to grab Kubikiribōchō, which, fortunately for the Hyuuga, was left behind. Hiashi's reaction was almost normal as his stoic Hyuuga façade cracked. His head whipped around to look at the one he had draw up the contract glaring at him for an explanation. "What is the meaning of this?" Hiashi said in a voice as cold as winter in Yuki no Kuni.

The aid started to sweat under the gaze of his clan head, but truly became fearful when Zabuza leveled the full brunt of his KI on him. He was left to hyperventilate, and shake like a leaf in a storm until Sarutobi placed his hand on Zabuza's shoulder. With a slight growl Zabuza reined in his anger while the old man turned his eyes to the aid.

"According to Hiashi-san's words this was supposed to be a standard marriage contract. If that was the case why present something that is most definitely not standard, and breaks some of the oldest inter-clan laws of Konoha?"

The aid was in a very unique position considering that at the moment he was the target of not only Hiashi's anger, but Momochi Zabuza "Demon of the Mist" the man infamous for slaughtering his entire academy class before he even graduated, and Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage, "The Professor", and "Kami no Shinobi". When faced with that he did what any smart man would do… he folded like origami.

"With there not being a female heir since the clan wars I had consulted with Hiashi-sama's father to make sure everything was in order. After meeting with him he said that he would handle drawing up the contract since it would be best to look through the records vault of the main family before finalizing the contract. It was just this morning that the finished contact was delivered to me." The aid said with kneeling with his head on the floor feeling the stares of 3 men that could wipe him from existence before he could blink focused on him.

After few moments Hiashi managed to take his gaze from the aid, and looked at his guests. Zabuza was understandably pissed, and glaring at the aid. Sarutobi however was looking at Hiashi with a raised eyebrow, and a curious expression on his face. Sighing deeply the clan head knew that there was really only one thing he could do if he wished to salvage the situation in any form, and pushed himself back from the table. He then placed his hands on the floor and lowered his head onto his hands in a position of complete submission.

"As Clan head I humbly ask you forgiveness for this gross error. You have my sincerest apologies for this, and I assure you that it will be rectified. If you will allow it I will personally draw up the _correct_ documentation so that we can continue this at a later date." Hiashi said from his prone position.

With his role being mostly that of mediator during this meeting Sarutobi filled his pipe, and started smoking it as possible scenarios ran through his mind. While the Hokage was doing that Zabuza stared long and hard at Hiashi debating what to do. He knew that the Hyuuga were a powerful clan, and could cause trouble for not only himself, but Haku and Naruto as well if he refused. One the other hand if he agreed to a rescheduled meeting it could be very beneficial to them. Eventually Zabuza nodded his head having come to a decision.

"I'll agree to another meeting on two conditions." Zabuza said causing Hiashi to move back to his previous spot at the table while the aid hadn't moved as he was still praying that he would come out of this alive and intact.

"The first condition is that Naruto and Haku will be at the next meeting since this concerns them both. The second one…" Zabuza grinned in a feral way showing off his shark like teeth. "If a mistake like this happens again I get to take care of it personally."

Having no doubt about what the ex-missing nin meant Hiashi truly hoped nothing like that would happen as he imagined the cleanup bill would be outrageous. "I see no problem with that, and I give you my word of honor as clan head that if any further _mistakes_ are made I will personally deliver the ones responsible to you."

Blowing out a long stream of smoke Sarutobi finally spoke up. "Considering we are in agreement on this I suggest we call this meeting to a close, and reschedule the next one for when the 2nd stage of the exams are over."

With both Hiashi and Zabuza agreeing with the Hokage's request they bid their farewells. When the geisha slid the door shut as she escorted them out of the compound Hiashi leveled his gaze upon the aid with his Byakugan fully activated.

"You will tell me in full detail exactly how this happened. I will decide upon your fate once I am satisfied." The clan head said in a tone that would have frozen the balls off of a penguin.

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Just outside the fence surrounding the Forest of Death several chunin were packing up the extra scrolls, and other things that had been set up for this stage of the Exams. Anko surveyed their work seeing that things were going well. Looking around she saw Haku staring off into the forest, and shook her head at the girl before a thought occurred to her. Carefully she sneaked up behind her and groped her ass. Haku jerked in surprise, and spun around ready to maim whoever was responsible only to have her eyes widen at who it was.

"Ano, Anko-san, what are you doing?"

Anko had a thoughtful look on her face as she flexed her hand a few times before answering. "Damn that gaki was right. Your ass is firmer than mine." The tokubetsu jonin grumbled.

Haku blinked, and wondered where that had come from since she hadn't heard Naruto's comment. "What are you talking about?"

Anko popped her neck before exhaling deeply. "When I used shunshin to get behind your boyfriend he somehow managed to sense the chakra spike, and ended up with his hands up my skirt, and under my trenchcoat. He then groped my ass, and told me that not only was yours firmer, but you were a better kisser as well."

Haku blushed hearing this, but couldn't help but smile at the ego boost it was knowing Naruto found her body better than the woman infront of her. 'Oh he is definitely getting a present when he gets home.'

"Oi! Wipe that smirk off your face girly. Just because you have a nice body doesn't mean you know how to use it." Anko said with a smirk as she leaned forward with her hands clasped in a way that caused her breasts to press together showing off her impressive cleavage.

Even though Haku envied the woman's size she knew that Naruto had no problems what so ever with her large B cup breasts from the more intense make out sessions they had. Not realizing her face was growing redder from thinking about where those sessions would have gone had she not made Naruto give his word if the lust she saw in his eyes at those times was anything to go by. Anko, having mistaken her flushed face for embarrassment at seeing her breasts displayed so openly, was about to comment on it when a chunin walked over to them.

"Anko-san, all of the scrolls are accounted for except for the ones you took for the demonstration. Can you give them to me so we can finish compiling the inventory?"

Sighing at her fun being ruined she reached for an inside pocket of her trenchcoat where she had placed the requested scrolls earlier only to find air. Haku and the chunin watched as Anko searched herself for the scrolls obviously finding nothing. "Well I'll be damned." Anko said looking at Haku with a smirk when she was done with her search.

"That gaki of yours must have some really talented hands to steal the scrolls from me without getting caught." The jonin said with a voice dripping innuendo.

Haku's lips formed a tight line as she tried not to react, but failed considering her pale skin easily showed off the blush she was sporting. Luckily for her she was saved from further embarrassment when another chunin came running up to them.

"Anko-san! There is an emergency. Some corpses were found not too far away from here." The new arrival said while trying to catch his breath.

Hearing this Anko's expression went from playful to all business. "Show me!" She barked gesturing for the chunin to lead the way.

A few minutes later the group arrived at the scene of three murdered ninja that had their faces removed. Shock was the prevailing reaction to this however Anko's was one of pure anger and hatred. Reaching out she grabbed the collar of one of the chunin near her and yanked him to her face.

"Notify the Hokage immediately! Tell him Orochimaru is in the village!" She growled out before thrusting the man away from her, and turning to Haku. "I'm ordering you to report to the Hokage Tower. Don't say anything until Hokage-sama says otherwise, and for Kami-sama's sake don't enter the forest."

"Hai, Anko-san." Haku said before disappearing in a Kiri-shunshin.

**(AN: There are some things in this story that are unchangeable, and I am sorry if you don't like some of them. To put a lot of your minds at ease though I will tell you that this story is a strict Naruto x Haku pairing, and no one else will be included. Hinata's relationship with Naruto will be explained in the meeting after the prelims. The next chapter will be the forest of death and the preliminaries.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**(AN: Sorry about how long it's been since I've updated any of my stories, but RL has been a bitch, and it took me forever to re-edit every chapter of my stories. Some of you are probably going to hate what happens in this chapter, but it is needed for the plot. Also a bit more about Tsunade being Naruto's mother is revealed. As always flames will just be ignored. Constructive criticism is always welcome though.)**

When the team was approximately 2 kilometers into the forest Naruto called for them to stop. Sasuke had a sour look on his face, while Sakura was curious about what Naruto wanted to say. Seeing he had their attention Naruto pulled the stolen scrolls out with a smirk.

"Since we have both scrolls why don't we head straight to the tower?" He asked nonchalantly.

Seeing his teammates' shocked expressions Naruto's smirk widened.

"How did you get the scrolls?" Sakura exclaimed while Sasuke's fists tightened in anger.

Naruto put the scrolls back before he answered. "I picked the proctor's pocket when she tried that intimidation act right before I kissed Haku-chan. With them we can head straight to the tower without having to worry about wasting time fighting pointlessly while hoping that the next team we run across has the scroll we need."

Sakura was stunned that Naruto-baka was able to think ahead like that, never mind the fact he managed to steal from a Tokubetsu Jonin. Sasuke grit his teeth at how the dobe managed to show him up yet again. Even though it pissed him off to no end he very reluctantly had to admit that Naruto had managed to clear the way for them since there was no reason to fight weak opponents, and those that made it to the finals were sure to be strong. Sasuke allowed a grin to show as he reasoned this out.

"Good job, Dobe. Now we can bypass all of these weaklings, and spend the time training once we finish this stage."

While Sakura stared in open mouthed shock Naruto just blinked in surprise before laughing. "Let's get going then." Naruto said before jumping off the tree he was in, and was quickly followed by Sasuke. Sakura stared after them for a moment before her brain caught up with events, and she ran after them.

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Sarutobi Hiruzen was enjoying a leisurely smoke break with some _chè sen _tea when the chunin Anko had sent burst through the door.

"Hokage-sama, I have an emergency report from Mitarashi Anko!"

Sarutobi went from relaxed to full on "Hokage mode" hearing this, and set his pipe down before leaning forward.

"Report."

The chunin hearing the tone of the Hokage's voice immediately stood at attention. "Hai! Three bodies were found outside Training Ground #44, and Tokubetsu Jonin Mitarashi upon arriving at the scene ordered me to report to you. The corpses were found faceless, and Mitarashi-san quickly identified the person behind the deaths. She said "Notify the Hokage immediately! Tell him Orochimaru is in the village!" She then growled before thrusting me away from her, and turning to Haku-san. Ordering her to report to the Hokage tower, and remain silent about the situation until you order otherwise."

The old man felt his age hearing that one of his greatest mistakes had returned to the village, but had a duty to his people. Signaling one of the hidden ANBU to appear before him he began giving orders.

"I want three full squads of ANBU in that forest now! They are to locate, and contain Orochimaru until backup arrives before attempting to arrest him. Also Locate Anko, and have her brought to me in chains if necessary." He then turned to the chunin signaling the ANBU to leave. When the masked ninja disappeared in a swirl of leaves Sarutobi spoke.

"This is to be kept as quiet as possible so the people don't panic. When Yuki Haku arrives at the tower tell her to come to my office at once."

The chunin saluted, and quickly left closing the door behind him. When he left Sarutobi slumped in his chair feeling every day of his 70 years. After taking a long sip of his tea, and relighting his pipe he seemingly spoke to the empty office.

"Inu, I want you to send a hawk to Jiraiya informing him of the situation, and that he needs to speed up his search since he is needed in the village with Orochimaru on the move."

In response an ANBU with a dog mask stepped out of the shadows, and bowed before using shunshin to carry out his orders.

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While Naruto and Sasuke could have made it to the tower without being winded they had to go at a slower pace than they liked due to Sakura being slower and not having their stamina. This is why they were taking a short break a little over 1km from the tower so that Sakura could rest even though they had only covered 8km. While Sakura sat with her back against the trunk of a tree, Naruto was in the canopy keeping a lookout even though the chances of running into someone this far into the forest was negligible. Sasuke stood with his arms crossed glaring in the direction of the tower thinking about how useless Sakura was being unable to run for more than an hour. Unbeknownst to them they were being snuck up on by someone that was far less than happy about them getting this far before he caught up to them. Using skill far beyond that of a genin the person got with 20 feet of them before Team 7 was hit with a huge burst of Killing Intent causing them to freeze in place. The person walked out from concealment with a disgruntled look on his face.

"I had wanted to test you before doing this, but the risk is too high this close to the tower. Instead I will just give you the gift, and see if you are worthy to use it, Sasuke-kun."

With that being said the person discarded the wicker hat revealing a konoichi from Amegakure. Seeing Sasuke and Sakura shaking caused the girl to smirk before she went through some hand seals. Sasuke's hand had just started to move towards his kunai pouch when he froze up again seeing the kunoichi's neck stretching at a rapid pace. In a matter of seconds the kunoichi had bitten Sasuke on the shoulder causing him to cry out in pain. As he dropped to his knees clutching his shoulder the kunoichi's neck started to shrink back down to normal. As her head settled back into place she started to chuckle as Naruto finally dropped down from the tree.

"What did you do to the Teme?" Naruto yelled out as he took a guard stance infront of Sasuke.

The kunoichi's smirk only grew before she spoke. "When you decide you want the true power of my gift seek out my master, Orochimaru."

Naruto growled as he drew a handful of shuriken to only put them away as the kunoichi melted into mud. Using the sensory granted him from the Jagon he scanned the area coming up empty except for the jonin level signatures approaching from the tower. Hearing a grunt from behind him Naruto turned around in time to see Sasuke pass out with Sakura still frozen in fear. He quickly moved over to Sasuke, and rolled him over onto his back before checking his pulse. Giving out a sigh of relief at finding him still breath he looked over his shoulder at Sakura who was shaking while staring at Sasuke.

"Snap out of it, Sakura! He's still alive, but we need to get him to the tower fast."

Her eyes darted from Sasuke to Naruto hearing his harsh tone. Gathering herself together she took a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah let's hurry before whoever that was comes back."

She had only taken 2 steps in their direction when she fell back with a scream as 4 ANBU and 3 jonin dropped from the trees. The ANBU with a white cloak signifying that he was a captain took a quick look around before telling the rest to spread out. He stood there for a moment before walking over to where Naruto was kneeling by Sasuke.

"What happened here, Uzumaki-san?"

"Some Ame kunoichi released a massive burst of Killing Intent that caused me to slip from the branch I was on while keeping lookout so Sakura could rest before we went into the tower. I managed to catch myself before I fell too far, and started to make my way back down. When I managed to get down I saw the kunoichi using some kind of neck stretching jutsu to bite Sasuke-teme. I then dropped to the ground and took up a guard position between them, and asked her what she was doing. She just smiled, and said that if Teme wanted the true power of her gift to seek out Orochimaru than melted into mud."

The ANBU captain turned his head to Sakura receiving a nod in reply to his unasked question. He then knelt down next to Sasuke, and started running a diagnostic jutsu over him. By the time he had finished the jutsu, and was looking at the bite mark that now looked like three tomes the other jonin and ANBU had started to return.

"There is no trace of the attacker left, Taicho." One of the ANBU said.

The captain sighed, and stood back up before looking at the conscious members of Team 7. "Do you have both of the scrolls required for this part of the exam?"

Naruto nodded, and took out both of the scrolls he had swiped from Anko showing them to the ANBU captain.

"Good. Kuma, take Uchiha-san to the infirmary, and notify Hokage-sama about what has happened here." The captain said looking at the ANBU in a bear mask before turning back to Naruto, and Sakura. "You two take the scrolls to the tower, and inform whoever shows up that they are to take any questions they have to Hokage-sama."

Sakura and Naruto both gave assenting nods as they watched their teammate disappear with the Kuma ANBU not noticing the captain signaling for the others to move out. After the jonin and ANBU had left Naruto shook his head wondering how the day went to hell when it started so well.

"Think you can make it to the tower at a sprint, Sakura?" He asked his obviously distraught teammate.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah I think so, Naruto." She said still looking at where Sasuke had been laying.

Naruto walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder drawing her attention. "He's going to be alright. That ANBU was taking him to the infirmary not the hospital so whatever was done to him can't be that bad. We should get going. The sooner we get to the tower the sooner you can see him. Ok?"

Sakura nodded her head with a small smile of gratitude. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Naruto smiled seeing some of her fire return. "You." He said before jumping into a tree, and heading to the tower.

"Naruto, you baka!" Sakura yelled giving chase.

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As the sun began to rise above the trees in the forest a figure could be seen rolling over on the roof of the tower to keep the sunlight out of his eyes. A few minutes later he sighed giving up on staying asleep, and stretched. Checking the position of the sun he saw that it was around 8am, and decided to head to the cafeteria for breakfast. On his way there he decided to check in on Sakura seeing as she was the reason he ended up sleeping on the roof. Entering the room that Team 7 was assigned he saw the pinkette curled up in a ball on one of the beds. He walked over to her, and brushed some hair out of her face noticing that her pillow as well as her face was stained with tears.

Letting out a soft sigh he couldn't help but feel pity for her. He could only imagine what he would be going through if something happened to Haku. Yeah Sakura was a fangirl of the first order that only fell for the "Tragic Uchiha Heir", a bitch, and pathetic as a kunoichi, but she was still his teammate. Taking a moment to send a prayer to Kami for Sasuke's wellbeing, if only for Sakura's sake, he bowed his head. With that done he wrote a small note saying he'd be busy for most of the day, and to ask any of the chunin or jonin in the tower if she needed anything. He then folded it so she could see it standing on the nightstand by her bed before continuing to the cafeteria.

An hour later Naruto was wandering around the tower when an ANBU appeared.

"Hello, ANBU-san." Naruto said coming to a stop.

"Hello, Uzumaki-san. Hokage-sama wants to see you."

"Do you know what for?"

"Sorry, Uzumaki-san, but I do not."

"Oh well I'll find out soon anyway." The teen said walking up to the ANBU only to disappear in a puff of smoke a moment after the ANBU placed a hand on his shoulder.

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Hiruzen sat behind his desk rubbing his temples to alleviate the growing headache he had from the situation with Orochimaru. Letting out a deep breath his eyes fell to the message he got that morning from Jiraiya informing him that he had found Tsunade, and that they should be back in the village within the week. So far that was the only good news he had since finding out Naruto had a girlfriend. He had just finished putting the scroll in a drawer of his desk when an ANBU with Naruto arrived.

"Thank you for bringing him, Risu. You can wait outside with my other guest for now." The Hokage said before getting a bow from the squirrel masked ANBU. "Sit down, Naruto." The old man stated gesturing to one of the chairs.

"What's up, Jiji?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing after that incident in the Forest."

"I'm alright. But Sakura was up crying herself to sleep sometime in the middle of the night. I ended up sleeping on the roof of the tower to give her some time to be alone. How is the teme doing anyway?"

Hiruzen sighed, and started to fill his pipe. "He is currently unconscious after having the mark sealed, and being looked after by med Nin in case anything happens. He should be up and about later today or tomorrow. I am sorry to hear about Sakura, and will have someone take her to see a Yamanaka after this part of the exams is over."

Naruto nodded hearing this knowing Ino would help her best friend/rival. "That will probably help out a lot."

Taking a puff off his pipe Hiruzen smiled at Naruto. "On a brighter note I hear you managed to embarrass the proctor before the 2nd stage even began."

Remembering that particular event Naruto could only chuckle while rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah I hope Haku-chan isn't still mad at me."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. She has been worried sick about you since yesterday. My ANBU reported that she had to be taken to a spare room since she refused to leave the tower incase news came in about you. I wouldn't be surprised if you get more injures from her tackling you and hugging you then you get from the Exams." The old man said with a chuckle much to Naruto's chagrin.

"I'll be fine as long as she doesn't add her bloodline to it….I hope."

While Naruto was distracted with thoughts about his lady love Hiruzen signaled one of the hidden ANBU to send his other guest in. "So tell me, Naruto. Is what you said about Anko's body in comparison to Haku's true?"

Naruto blushed at this, and tried to think of what to say to this not noticing Haku having stopped dead still upon opening the door. "Uh…well…"

Hiruzen's grin grew seeing a perfect shot for some payback for the paperwork his past pranks had caused. "You do know Anko wouldn't stop going on about how good you are with your hands."

"Wha…!" Naruto managed to get out as he stared open mouthed at the Hokage not believing what he just heard. Haku's face on the other hand was a myriad of emotions ranging from embarrassment, fear, shock, jealousy, and anger before she put her "Game face" back on.

"Hokage-sama, did we not agree that the private details of Naruto-kun and my relationship were not to be discussed again?" The pale beauty said walking into to the room taking note of, but not acknowledging that Naruto's face was now paler than her inner thigh.

The old man put on a serious face, but if one looked closely enough they would see a slight upturn to the corners of his mouth. "True we did, but we were not discussing your relationship with Naruto, but his with Anko." As he said this his façade almost broke seeing Naruto clutch the chair for dear life, and getting close to hyperventilating. 'Ah revenge is sweet, my boy.'

Naruto was having a mental breakdown by this point, and began to seriously consider the odds of successfully cutting his own throat before Haku could get him. 'Oh shit too late!' He thought as he noticed the temperature rapidly drop causing frost to form in the room.

Haku looked slowly between the Hokage, and Naruto who now looked like a deer that is 0.0001 seconds from having its throat torn out by a Bengal tiger before tapping her chin in thought. "You have a point, Hokage-sama, but I feel I must correct you on something. Since the only time another woman can be intimate with Naru-koi is when I bring her to our bed myself it still constitutes as part of our relationship, and is therefore not to be discussed."

The room turned dead silent at her statement with the only exceptions being one of the ANBU falling out of concealment, and Naruto's intelligent reply of "Urk!" as his brain ceased to function, and he swallowed his own tongue. Hiruzen failed to notice Haku's slight smirk, which isn't too surprising considering his mind went off to la la land as his inner pervert conjured images of what her words implied.

Haku reveled in her victory over the small verbal prank war that had just taken place for several minutes before pulling the zombiefied Naruto out of the chair. "Come on, Naru-koi. We don't want you to be too worn out to finish the Exams now do we?"

The only reply she got was a shake of the head as Naruto's brain had yet to reboot enough to do more than follow Haku. Before she closed the office door she decided to give one last parting shot. "Please don't stress yourself too much, Hokage-sama. We wouldn't want you to have a heart attack in your old age since you don't have Naruto-kun's _immense_…stamina." She said making sure to put special emphasis in her tone.

It was several moments later before the sound of the ANBU that had fallen picking himself up could be heard before he coughed glad his mask hid the shame that was clearly showing on his face. As he entered concealment once again a soft mutter could be heard that matched what everyone in the room was thinking including the female ANBU with waist length violet hair.

"Lucky bastard."

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Several hours later Naruto was lying on his bed in the Forest of Death tower staring at the ceiling thinking about the events that happened throughout the day. Even after all the reassurances Haku had given him earlier he still felt bad about it, and wanted to make it up to her. The only problem was how. He knew that with the restrictions placed on the chunin hopefuls that it would be almost impossible to do until after the Exams. The next problem was figuring out how to do whatever it was he decided to do without having to play "Dodge the zanbato wielding psycho." He'd been lost in thought for over 3 hours when the sound of the door opening caught his attention. Sitting up he noticed Kakashi carrying in a passed out Sakura. After putting the girl to bed Kakashi gestured for Naruto to follow him outside. Once they were outside with the door closed Kakashi began speaking in a quiet voice.

"She's had a rough couple days, Naruto, and being allowed to visit Sasuke was a mistake even though it seems talking with her mother helped."

Naruto crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Do you think they'll be ok enough to finish the Exams?"

"Sasuke will try even if he's on his deathbed, but Sakura…" Kakashi stared at the door across from them for a moment before shaking his head as if to clear old memories. "I honestly don't know. Depending on how her sessions with the Yamanaka go her career as a kunoichi might come to an end very soon."

Even though Naruto no longer had his crush on the pinkette, and thought of her as nothing more than a teammate, he couldn't help but sigh hearing this. "Maybe you can convince Sasuke-teme to go on a date with her in exchange for teaching him a few low rank jutsu. Kami knows if nothing helps that would."

Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at Naruto wondering why the boy that used to nag him about learning new jutsu was suggesting teaching the teme instead as a bribe. "Why would you suggest that?"

"If you haven't noticed Sasuke will do anything to learn something that might help him avenge his clan. You could teach him a jutsu to keep his underwear soft as long as you said it would help kill Itachi."

"Hmmm…While I can't argue with you on that are you sure it would be a good idea to bribe him to go on a date with Sakura?"

"Yeah a date…dates…yeah that just might work!" Naruto said as an idea for his own problem hit him. Naruto turned to face Kakashi with a smile that wasn't as scary as his "Prank Time" one it still sent a chill down spine. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei, can you do me a favor?" Naruto said in a sweet tone that made the jonin very uncomfortable.

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Haku had been told to report to the exam tower on the 4th day since the start of the exam. After she met with Genma she was told to get acquainted with the other medics, and to prepare to use her skills since it looked like there would have to be preliminary matches to cut down on the number of participants for the 3rd exam. After swearing secrecy of the issue she familiarized herself with the infirmary, but as the day went on she felt like she was the butt of some kind of joke. Having faked being an oinin for so long she could feel the humor radiating off of the ANBU stationed throughout the tower. At first she just dismissed it as word having gotten around about what happened in the Hokage's office, but it only seemed to get worse the longer she was there. So when a beautiful silk yukata with an intricate wave design on it was delivered to her she checked it for traps, poisons, seals, and any other types of trickery she could think of. Finding nothing she checked the box it came in only to find a folded note from Naruto.

"Beloved, I hope you like my little gift. If you would give me the honor, privilege and pleasure please put this small gift on, and go to the roof at sunset. I love you, Naruto."

"Naru-koi." She said softly holding the note to her chest as her day just became a lot better. Setting the note aside she carefully changed taking a few extra moments to make any final adjustments, and admire herself in a mirror. After several minutes of allowing some ego boosting at how good she looked, and how her boyfriend could pick out clothes that complemented her so well Haku checked the time, and saw that she should start making her way to the roof.

Haku was so lost in her thoughts about what Naruto was up to that she didn't notice Ino start following her to find out why Haku was so dressed up. With this being the case it is understandable that her situational awareness went down even more when she arrive on the roof and saw Naruto by the railing in a kimono of matching quality to the yukata she was wearing. While she admired her blonde beau from behind as he looked out over the forest in the direction of the setting sun she failed to notice Ino moving into a surveillance position by the stairwell. Walking up behind him Haku slipped her arms around his waist, and rested her head against his shoulder with a content smile on her lips.

Brought out of his thoughts by her contact Naruto couldn't help but smile at how she made his life so full and warm where it had once been nothing but a desolate landscape of emptiness with only a few patches of life before. Gently turning around he wrapped his own arms around her, and met her lips with his own in a chaste, but heartfelt kiss. After a moment that seemed an eternity to the lovebirds he drew back to get a good look at Haku. As he examined her appearance in the new clothes he couldn't help smiling at how beautiful she looked to him. The unintended effect of his facial expression was Haku blushing slightly which was only expounded when her eyes met his.

"I take back everything I said about you being a tenshi because only a megami could look as divinely stunning as you do."

Hearing not only his words but how they were said caused Haku's heart to flutter, and her cheeks to have more than a slight tint of red considering she was far from used to being complimented in such ways. Unbeknownst to Haku who had become lost in her beloved's embrace and Ino who was too busy biting her hand to prevent herself from squealing Naruto had with Hiruzen's permission, commissioned several musicians for the date. The reason neither Haku nor Ino hadn't seen them was that they were set on the upper levels of the roof. With all of this it is more than understandable that Haku, who was lost in the contentment of the moment, jerked in surprise when the strings of a koto were plucked at the same moment that the sun started to sink below the trees. Taking a look around Haku quickly found the source of the music, and couldn't hide her gasp of surprise seeing a group of musicians with a koto, shamisen, biwa, taiko, and shakuhachi. **(AN: the song that they are playing is "Asukagawa" by Rin')** When she looked to Naruto he merely smiled, and moved her so her back was against his chest before pointing to a Noh performer that had come from hiding behind the raised observation deck the musicians were on.

While the lovers were off in their own world Ino could not believe what she was seeing. The shock of finding out that the "day glow orange knucklehead" was dating Haku was bad enough, but finding out that he could romance someone on such a scale during the Exams let alone at all was more than she thought possible. As she tried to comprehend this before unknown aspect of the prank king the musicians had started playing "Yukari Purple". The blonde gossip's brain was running a mile a minute trying to reconcile this aspect of Naruto with the one that she knew from the academy with no results. Catching some movement out of the corner of her eye she turned her head for a better look only to see a clone setting up a picnic style dinner complete with candles.

With the last rays of the sun starting to disappear as the sky changed from a collage of orange and red to twilight blue, and purple the music became mellower as the musicians started playing "Sakura sakura". Hearing the prearranged change in music Naruto knew that the next part of the date had been set up, and opened his eyes in order to kiss Haku's neck.

"Would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner, Kamigami no ōjo?" He whispered as he held his hand out toward where the food was.

Haku couldn't hide the shiver, and slight moan that escaped her even if she wanted to as Naruto's breath caressed the skin he had just kissed. Opening her own eyes she looked where his arm was directed causing her to smile at the lengths her beloved would go to for her. Gently removing herself from his arms she drifted over to where the blanket was spread out, and took note that the music had become lighter and purely instrumental.

"You didn't have to do all this, Naru-koi." She said looking over the finger foods arrayed before her.

Naruto couldn't help but let loose a sigh of relief that Haku liked what he had planned especially how hard it was to convince the Hokage to let him do this. Settling himself next to her he brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, and looked into her eyes with his hand cupping her cheek.

"Being the lowly ningen that I am I would do whatever it takes to keep a megami such as yourself by my side." He said softly before leaning in and kissing her.

Feeling her eyes start to water, and a spike of jealously grow in her heart Ino decided it was time to leave the lovers be, and slipped back into the tower. Halfway down the stairs she let the tears flow freely as she clutched her heart as what she had seen brought everything she knew about not only Naruto, but everyone else she knew into question. These thoughts were mainly focused on Sasuke, and her crush on him. If she had been so wrong about Naruto could she be just as wrong about Sasuke? While part of her was in adamant denial of that thought another part of her was in agreement. Either way she was terrified of the answers she would get. Without realizing it she had walked to where the genin rooms were, and bumped into her sensei in the hallway.

"You ok, Ino?" Asuma Sarutobi asked as he held his hand out to help her up if she needed it.

Ino was shaken back to reality from the harsh landing her butt took on the stone floor, and looked up in confusion at him. "Sorry, sensei." She mumbled blushing slightly in embarrassment before taking the offered hand.

Once she was back on her feet Asuma looked her over a little more carefully. "I asked if you're ok, Ino. You seem a bit distracted."

The blonde sighed deeply, and brushed her ponytail over her shoulder as she searched for words. "I don't know, Asuma-sensei. I just saw something that makes me doubt everything I thought I knew."

Asuma ran a hand through his hair seeing the lost and confused look on her face, and barely restrained himself from lighting a cigarette. "Shikamaru and Choji are at the mess hall if you want to talk about it privately."

Looking up at her sensei she could see the concern in his eyes, and sighed before nodding her head. "I would appreciate that a lot." She said with a weak smile.

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The next day found the genin teams that had made it to the tower gathered on elevated walkways on the sides of an arena while on an elevated area stood the Hokage, and several jonin. Naruto was only listening with half an ear as he scanned the area trying to find Haku. While their date the night before had gone over very well he still hadn't had a chance to really talk with Haku since she had fallen asleep, and he had to carry her back to her room. After several minutes of being unable to spot her, he gave a dejected sigh and hoped he'd be able to see her soon. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he looked over to see Kakashi eye smiling at him.

"Don't worry, Naruto. I'm sure you'll do fine."

Said teen was confused for a moment until he remembered that they had to have preliminary matches to cut down on the number of genin in the finals, and had missed the start of Sakura and Ino's fight. Shaking his head slightly he gave a wry smile.

"It's not that, Kakashi-sensei. I just haven't been able to spend much time with Haku-chan over the last week. After spending so much time with her between Wave and the Exams it just feels…" He paused here in an attempt to find the right words, but gave up after a moment. "Well it just feels wrong. I don't know how else to describe it."

Kakashi caught the sincerity of his words, and smiled at him under his mask. "You have to remember that you are both ninja, and there will times where you won't see each other for weeks or even months depending on the missions you two have to take. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. The length of some of the missions we are required to go on that cause us to be separated from the ones we love is the biggest reason so few ninja have serious relationships especially with civilians. The only advice I can offer is to cherish the time you spend together, so that you can look forward to the next time you see each other instead of lamenting the time you are apart."

As much as Naruto didn't like it he knew his sensei was right. "I understand, Sensei. I just hope that I won't be on too many long term missions since Haku-chan won't be taking very missions with having to work at the hospital."

Kakashi eye smiled at Naruto once more, and patted him on the shoulder. "It will all work out, Naruto. In the meantime I better collect our teammate."

Naruto looked down into the arena to see that Sakura and Ino had somehow knocked each other out. 'How the hell did that happen?' He asked himself dumbfounded that such a thing happened outside of a civilian fight. A few minutes later the board showed the names of Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara.

"This isn't going to end well." Naruto said as he hoped Sasuke would forfeit if Gaara was as dangerous as he thought he was.

Sasuke smirked seeing his name come up, and headed down the stairs confident that no mere desert trash could stand up to an Uchiha. Gaara on the other hand was hoping that this opponent would be worthy to prove his existence. As the sand around his feet began to move in preparation for a Suna shunshin Temari and Kankuro to a step back knowing just how psychotic their younger brother was. With both competitors in the arena the sickly jonin raised his arm.

"Are you both *cough* ready?"

Without breaking the staring contest the two had each on gave a nod of ascent with Sasuke being the only one to slip into a fighter's stance. Seeing them both ready the jonin dropped his arms and jumped back by the Hokage.

"Hajime!"

Seeing his opponent just stand there with his arms crossed Sasuke gave a snort before rushing Gaara. Opening with a simple right hook Sasuke can't up but smirk as Gaara doesn't even move, but that quickly changes when his punch is blocked by sand. Upping his speed with each attack that is blocked Sasuke to no effect much to his ire. This went on for a minute before Gaara spoke.

"It seems your blood isn't worthy to give Mother."

Hearing this pissed Sasuke off to no end at the insult to not only himself but to his entire clan, and almost missed burst of sand Gaara sent at him. With the aid of a chakra enhanced leap Sasuke dodged the attack before growling as he went through hand seals.

"We'll see whose blood is unworthy. **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" The only response Gaara had to seeing the fireball shoot towards him was a slight smirk before a wall of sand shot up blocking the jutsu. Seeing this Sasuke started to sprint around Gaara going through another set of hand seals. **"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu."** With the jutsu released he jumped into the air sending a spread of shuriken from each hand in hopes that one of the attacks would get through the sand. Unfortunately this was not the case as a massive wall had formed blocking all of the attacks including the shuriken hidden in the fire jutsu. Seeing this Sasuke's hands clenched tightly causing the seal on his shoulder to flare up.

"Pathetic." Gaara said in his usual monotone as he turned around to face Sasuke. Raising his hand palm up until it was at chest level he smirked at the grimace on Sasuke's face before quickly closing hand as if he had just caught a ball. **"Sabaku Kyū."**

Sasuke tried to dodge the attack, but was too slow as he was still griping his shoulder in pain. He kicked and punched the sand trying to disperse it enough, and it seemed to work for a brief moment, but sadly it was not to be. The reason for this is that when Gaara saw Sasuke go for an aerial kick his loosely held fist tightened causing the sand to shoot up around Sasuke entrapping him from the stomach down. Sasuke struggled to get free as he felt the sand crawl up to his chest.

"Mother is thirsty." As Gaara said this a maniacal gleam could be seen in his eyes, and he called out a final technique before the proctor could call the match. **"Sabaku Sōsō."**

The blood curdling scream of agony that was ripped from Sasuke sent chills down the spines of everyone in the room, and the wet gurgling of the pureed gore that was the last Uchiha from the heart down being forced out of his mouth caused nearly all of the genin to vomit. It was a grotesque, and gory scene as Gaara drew his sand back into his gourd leaving what remained of Sasuke spilled across the floor. The cold and callous way that Gaara ended the hopes of many a fangirl as well as influential members of Konoha even shocked the veteran jonin. The proctor looking even sicker than he was turned to the Hokage for his judgment only to receive a nod in return. Swallowing what bile had managed to make its way up his throat called the match.

"Winner Sabaku no Gaara!"

While Gaara walked back to his teammates the medics gave him a wide birth as they began to gather up the remains of Sasuke. Naruto spotting Haku among the medics jumped over the railing, and pulled her aside talking with her in hushed tones. Hiruzen was deep in thought knowing this would cause a shit storm within Konoha. The only consolation was that whatever plans Danzo had around the boy were now all moot. Catching sight of Naruto speaking with Haku a thought occurred of how to bring some type of distraction if not calming to the obviously rattled genin in the room. Gesturing to one of the chunin nearby he signaled for him to bring the musicians that were still in the tower.

Unbeknownst to everyone the Oto jonin was gritting his teeth and balling his fists in rage. Growling in frustration at the massive setback to his plans he had just witnessed he was tempted to kill Gaara, but pushed the thought aside as it would remove a rook from the game far too early. With there being no more reason for him to be there he made sure everyone was focused elsewhere before slipping out of sight.

After several long minutes for everyone the Hokage stepped forward to speak using chakra to amplify his voice. "It is always hard to lose a comrade even under the best of circumstances. For those of you that wish to attend his funeral the date and time will be announced tomorrow. For now let us take a moment of silence out of respect for those close to us that have died."

Everyone there minus a select few bowed their heads praying to Kami for the souls of the departed. When a minute had passed the Hokage coughed slightly before stepping back. As he did so the sad sounds of the song "What the Rain Said" could be heard. As the sound of the shamisen carried through the arena it brought fresh tears to those that knew Sasuke primarily Sakura and Ino. As the last notes of the song faded away the board once more began rolling through names for the next match. When the randomization ended it showed the names of Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba.

Seeing his name come up Naruto looks at Kakashi meeting his eye before glancing at Sakura. Kakashi steps closer to Sakura and places a hand on her shoulder before nodding to Naruto in answer to the silent question. Before he can say anything to the pinkette a loud voice full of bravado echoes through the arena.

"Hey dobe are you going to fight or are you going to admit I'm better than you and forfeit?" Kiba yelled boisterously.

Naruto sent a glare at Kiba before vaulting over the railing. "I'm going to make this quick since I have more important things to do than listen to the barking of an impotent omega like you."

Kiba's face clearly showed the anger such a statement caused as he growled. "I'm going to rip your throat out!"

The proctor looked between the two for a moment before giving the signal to start. Kiba ran straight at Naruto with his fist cocked back preparing to knock Naruto's teeth down his throat. Naruto dodged the punch slipping behind Kiba and delivered a thrust kick to his back. As Kiba tried to stand back up Naruto grabbed him around the neck in a sleeper hold wanting to end the match quickly. Unfortunately he had forgotten about Akamaru who ran over and bit his calf. Naruto tried to ignore the dog tightening his hold until Akamaru started to shake his head like he was trying to rip the flesh from the bone. Naruto released Kiba pushing him forward before knocking the dog away with a closed fist backhand that missed his eye by less than an inch causing a loud yelp.

"You bastard!" Kiba roared as he succumbed to his rage. "**Tsūga!**"

Reacting quickly Naruto dropped down and rolled to where Akamaru was laying still dazed from the hit. Quickly grabbing the dog Naruto pulled out a kunai pressing it to the canine's belly with the point just under the ribs and angled so that a slight thrust would send the blade through Akamaru's stomach to his heart.

"Kiba, forfeit or I kill Akamaru!" Naruto yelled in a slightly chakra enhanced voice.

Kiba was extremely pissed off and wanting to do nothing more than beat Naruto like a drum growled loudly as he took a step toward the blonde. When he did Naruto pressed the kunai just hard enough to draw blood, and force Akamaru to yelp and whimper.

"Your partner's life is on the line, Kiba. Submit or choose to watch him die." Naruto said in a cold tone laced with KI. "Choose. The match or Akamaru's life!"

Kiba was in a very tough spot with his pride, anger, and chance at promotion warring with the ingrained Inuzuka loyalty. After a few minutes of the Mexican Standoff Kiba slumped his shoulders in defeat. "I forfeit."

With the match called Naruto slipped the kunai back into his pouch and held the dog out for Kiba to take. Quickly checking over his partner to assess his wound Kiba sighed in relief that the injuries appeared to be minor before casting a headed glare at Naruto.

"That was low, Naruto. Very low." The Inuzuka boy said through clenched teeth.

"I am sorry, Kiba, but we are shinobi. Save the honorable fights for the samurai." The blond said before walking over to where Kakashi was standing with Sakura nowhere in sight.

"Is she ok, Kakashi-sensei?" He asked wondering how his teammate was doing.

"She passed out from crying, and is asleep in the medical bay. With the way the last week has been she was running on fumes before her match even started, and his both physically and mentally exhausted. She'll probably be asleep for a few hours if you want to check on her. Also Hokage-sama wants me to tell you to wait in the med bay with Haku since he has something important to talk with you both about after the preliminaries are over."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair letting out a sigh at how this day just keeps getting longer. "Alright, Kakashi-sensei. Let me know how the rest of the matches go would ya?"

"No problem, Naruto." Kakashi eye smiled.

Giving a nod and a smile in thanks Naruto headed to the med bay where what was left of his team and his girlfriend were.

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While the life and death struggle for chunin was going on in Konoha a tall white haired man was walking into a bar. Looking around he quickly spotted a cute brunette with a pig sitting by a very buxom blonde. Making no effort to hide his presence he walked over to their table getting a hesitant smile from the brunette and a glare from the blonde.

"What are you doing here, Jiraiya?" Tsunade said before taking another swig of her sake.

"Is that any way for a beautiful woman to greet her teammate after so long, Tsunade-hime?" He said as he sat down across from her.

"Cut the crap, Jiraiya. You only show up to perv on me or to get me to do something for Konoha."

Jiraiya sighed before his expression went dead serious. "Why didn't you tell me you had a kid?"

Shizune looked between the two Sannin in shock while Tsunade spit out her sake in surprise.

The glare Tsunade leveled on Jiraiya as she wiped up the sake off of her shirt would have melted lead at 100 paces. "You've been spending too much time on your smut if you're starting to believe your fantasies. You know damn well I've never been pregnant!"

Without changing expression or looking away from sundae Jiraiya slid his hand between his ninja mesh armor and his shirt to pull out a large yellow envelope before sliding it across the table to Tsunade. The slug summoner glared at Jiraiya for a few moments before looking over the contents of the envelope. The shock and disbelief of what she was reading could clearly be seen on her face as she reread the papers several times, before slamming the papers onto the table.

"What kind of bullshit is this?! How dare you try to pull a scam like this on me?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't castrate you and force feed you your balls for this stunt!" The blonde yelled as she leaned over the table in rage.

Jiraiya's eyes never left hers despite the bountiful display mere inches from his face staying silent until a gasp could be heard from Shizune upon seeing the papers.

"Tsunade, those test results are real. Sensei had his own doctor run them 8 times just to be sure."

Tsunade searched his eyes for several long moments before slowly sitting back down realizing just how serious the Toad Sage was. "They have to be false. There is no way he could be my son. I have never been pregnant, and Shizune sure as hell can attest to that! Do you think I wouldn't know if I had a son?"

"If that's true than how do you explain it?" Jiraiya said in a level voice.

"I can't, but I do know for a fact that I have never conceived, carried, or birthed a child ever. Any chance of that died decades ago." She said as memories of her dead lover flashed through her mind.

Seeing the honesty and pain in his teammate he glanced at Shizune seeing there was no deception in what Tsunade had said Jiraiya's expression softened. "I don't know what to tell you, Hime, but one thing is certain is that those medical reports are as real. Sensei sent me to bring you back to Konoha to verify this."

Tsunade picked up the bottle of sake, and downed its contents before shaking her head. "Why is the boy's name, and picture excluded from the report?"

Jiraiya sighed pouring himself a saucer of sake. "Sensei wants to discuss that with you in private. Just imagine the shit storm that would happen just from the rumor of you having a kid? Suna would probably put a price on his head for how you countered Chiyo's poisons. Kumo would have him kidnapped to try to breed the mokuton. Not to mention what Iwa and Kiri would do. He wouldn't even be safe in his own bed."

A look of extreme pain and sorrow crossed Tsunade's face before she lowered her head to stare vacantly at the sake bottle in her hands. While Jiraiya filled up a saucer for himself and pushed another towards Tsunade Shizune couldn't help but look at her master in confusion, shock, and worry. 10 minutes passed in dead silence before Tsunade spoke in a surprisingly meek voice.

"I don't have a choice do I?" She said as if she was speaking with herself. With a heavy sigh Tsunade raised her head to look at Jiraiya clearly displaying the fear that this is nothing more than a trick to get her back into the village. "I'll go to Konoha and run the tests myself, but I warn you now. If this is a joke I'm going to beat you worse than Koharu did when she caught you peeping on her, and Sensei will join what is left of your corpse."

Jiraiya set his saucer down and leaned forward so that his face was only a couple inches from hers. "I've this is I lie I won't put up a fight or try to run away."

After a very long moment Tsunade spoke not taking her eyes from her teammate's. "Shizune, go back to our room, and get everything ready for travel. We leave at dawn."

Shizune scrambled up from her seat and bowed to both of the Sannin. "Hai, Tsunade-sama." She said before hurrying to do her master's bidding.


	5. Chapter 5

**(AN: This chapter contains the long awaited Hyuuga v Naruto/Haku confrontation, and Tsunade's arrival in Konoha. Once again I apologize about the long wait for updates, but being a father comes first. As always thank you for the reviews, and constructive criticism.)**

Naruto and Haku were both walking toward the Hyuuga compound dressed in formal kimonos for a meeting they were told to attend by the Hokage after the preliminary matches were over. Even though neither of them knew what the meeting was about Naruto couldn't help but be distracted as he kept glancing at Haku. While her flawless beauty was part of the distraction the majority of it was what had happened in the Forest of death. Sitting in the medical bay unable to do anything as he watch the various Iryō-nin and Haku go about their duties made him truly realize just how true what Kakashi had said was. Even in the same room as her he felt like she was so far away it made his heart ache. With a sigh he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, and mentally steeled himself for whatever the meeting was about.

Haku turned to look at Naruto having heard the sigh only to smile at how strong he looked to her as his posture spoke of determination, and confidence. She reached out taking his hand in hers before closing the distance between them, and laying her head on his shoulder making them look like a couple on a very expensive date. Glancing at her Naruto felt warmth spread through his chest at the sight of her contented smile, and placed a light kiss on her forehead. As the Hyuuga compound came into sight Naruto let out a small groan thinking about how much he'd rather be back at his apartment cuddled up with Haku on the couch.

Much too quickly for either of their liking they found themselves sitting around a table with Hyuuga Hiashi, Momochi Zabuza, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and several branch members who were there to act as servants. After one of the female branch members had served tea to everyone Hiashi spoke first.

"Naruto-san, Haku-san, do you know why we are gathered here for this meeting?"

The couple exchanged glances before Haku spoke. "No, Hokage-sama. All we were told was that we were show up in formal attire for a meeting of great importance."

"I see." Hiashi said glancing between Zabuza and Hiruzen. "In that case it would be best to inform you as to the purpose of your presence here."

The Hyuuga patriarch pulled a scroll from the inside of his robe, and handed it to a branch member to give to them. Haku received it with a slight bow of her head before she unrolled it on the table infront of her and Naruto. The only sound in the room was of breathing as everyone watched the young couple's reaction to the scroll's contents. While the only reaction Haku gave was a slight tightening around her eyes, Naruto was much more expressive. His face went from curious to surprised straight to pissed off. After several minutes Haku sat up with her back straight and her face the image of a perfect porcelain mask as she awaited Naruto to speak first.

Not much longer Naruto push the scroll away from him with a growl and glared at Hiashi. "Why the hell should I agree to this?!"

Hiashi took a deep breath seeing this would be an uphill battle with no help from the Hokage. "There are many benefits to such a union. The Hyuuga Clan is not only one of the wealthiest clans in Konoha, but the most influential as well. You would also benefit greatly from Hinata's training as an heiress especially since you plan on eventually becoming Hokage since you will need to know the intricacies of politics."

Naruto snorted and waved his hand as if dismissing Hiashi's words. "If you knew anything about me you'd know that what I want even more than being Hokage is to have a family. Which, by the way, is something I already have with Haku-chan, so why should I even consider this especially considering Hinata broke into my house and attacked Haku-chan?"

Before Hiashi could respond a malicious chuckle was heard from Zabuza. "I told you it was pointless. The gaki is head over heels for Haku, and far too stubborn to cave without a good reason."

Despite his growing irritation with the lack of etiquette Hiashi decided to try a different tactic to get Naruto to agree. "Hinata has been punished, and regrets her actions. If you require it she will give a formal apology. You have to understand that by Hyuuga clan law there can only be one heir. I have tried my best to put it off, but if something isn't done soon Hinata will be branded with the Caged Bird seal, and made a branch member. While I understand you are hesitant about this considering Hinata's actions, and that you and Haku-san are already married, but I implore you to accept the betrothal."

Haku and Naruto both stared in surprise before sharing a confused look with each other. "Ano…What do you mean we are married, Hiashi-sama?" Haku asked with her heart beating a mile a minute as she processed the implications.

Hiashi blinked in surprise at the ice maiden's question before looking at Zabuza in confusion, only to blink again at the swordsman failing epically to look innocent. Turning his gaze back he saw Haku staring at Zabuza with suspicion, and lightly coughed in an attempt to prevent his home from turning into a battleground. "I was informed by Zabuza-san when I approached Hokage-sama about the betrothal that you and Naruto-san we married before you left Nami no Kuni. The idea of marrying another may be uncomfortable for you, but there are no laws in Hi no Kuni against it."

Everyone suddenly found themselves shivering as frost began to form around the room. The cause of which was Haku, who at the moment truly looked like one of the yukionna of legend. "Otou-san." She said in a voice that could have come straight from the depths of Cania. A dark aura emanated from her before seeming to coalesce just above and behind her head taking on the visage of a frost beholder. "Explain."

Zabuza knew he had to come up with something quick when he felt sweat start to freeze, and looked to Hiruzen for help only to get an amused shake of the head. Considering Hiashi would be no help he looked to his last hope, but when he saw Naruto's eyes were no longer blue, but had turned purple with vertically oval irises he realized he had no choice but to come clean and quick. "I did it to protect you, Haku. Considering how hidden villages are there was a good chance you'd be killed, experimented on, or used as breeding stock so I made a deal with Tazuna to get you two married in secret. That's what those papers you signed were for."

Haku continued to stare are Zabuza with the beholder's eye stalks focusing on him in very disturbing ways not even stopping when Naruto began to speak. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell us."

Zabuza sent another glance at Hiruzen and Hiashi only to see them sipping tea, and smoking a pipe acting as if there was nothing wrong while talking about the Chunin Exams. Grumbling at being left to the vultures Zabuza ran his hand through his hair. "Look, Haku, you may not be blood, but you are the daughter of my heart. I saw how you and Naruto like each other, but I didn't want to pressure the issue, and let you find your own happiness. Also can you honestly say that if you knew you wouldn't be pregnant right now?"

Hearing this caused the evil aura and the frost to vanish like it never was as Haku blushed to such a degree Hiashi almost mistook her for Hinata. After a few minutes of embarrassment Haku and Naruto began talking quietly with each other discussing the situation. When around 10 minutes had passed Haku turned to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, would I be able to request the Yuki clan be officially inducted into Konoha?"

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe for a moment as he thought about it. "You could, but you'd need a representative to sit in during council meetings since you are neither of age or rank to sit there yourself. You won't have to worry about the other requirement since you are already married to Naruto, but you would be expected to produce an heir before your 18th birthday."

Hearing this Haku nodded before speaking with Naruto in whispers again. The next time one of them spoke it was Naruto. "Hiashi-san, we have an alternative proposal to the betrothal contract. Since you only wish to protect Hinata from the Cage Bird seal what we have to suggest should meet with your approval. If Jiji accepts the Yuki clan as a Konoha clan like the Hyuuga, Aburame, Yamanaka, and others we would be willing to adopt Hinata into the Yuki clan as Haku-chan's handmaiden as a sign of good will between the Yuki and Hyuuga."

For several minutes Hiashi thought over the pros and cons of the couple's counter proposal before sighing. "There is no way you'll accept Hinata as a second wife is there?" He asked getting a nod of conformation in return. "In that case I will accept your proposal if Hokage-sama grants acceptance of the Yuki clan into Konoha, and you choosing a representative."

Hiruzen tapped the ashes out of his pipe before speaking. "I will have my secretary draw up the paperwork. It should be ready in a couple of days. You will have to have your representative chosen by then."

Haku smiled in a way that was far too much like one of Naruto's prankster grins. "I have already made a choice. Otou-san will be the clan representative and regent until such a time as I can take the position myself."

Zabuza gave a loud groan at hearing this knowing that if he didn't go along with it Naruto and Haku would make his life a living hell. "The gaki is rubbing off on you far too much, Haku."

Haku's expression turned so innocent it screamed wrongness before she spoke sweetly. "It's to be expected since he is my husband, and we have a belated honeymoon to celebrate."

Hearing this caused Hiruzen to giggle perversely and Zabuza to growl not wanting to think about his "daughter" being violated however willing she may be. Naruto wisely kept his mouth shut although the blood leaking from his nose gave away his thoughts. "If there is nothing else we need to discuss I believe this meeting is at an end." Haku said looking between Hiashi and the Hokage.

Hiruzen nodded and looked over to Hiashi getting a slight shake of the head. "Alright then since it appears everything is taken care of for now why don't you show up at my office at 1pm 2 days from now along with Hinata so we can get the paperwork taken care of?" The Hokage asked getting a "hai, Hokage-sama" from Haku and Hiashi, a grunt from Zabuza, and a "Sure thing, Jiji" from Naruto.

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Later that night after having eaten dinner at a restaurant Naruto and Haku are cuddling on the couch in her apartment each lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly Naruto shakes his head. "I still can't believe we've been married and didn't even know it."

Haku smiled up at him not wanting to move her head from his shoulder. "I know, koishii. Besides being shocked I'm not sure if I should be mad at Otou-san or grateful for it."

Naruto chuckled slightly as his hand danced along Haku's side from her ribs to her hips. "Don't get me wrong I am overjoyed about us being married, but he's still going to pay for keeping it a secret from us." He said thinking about the different pranks he could pull on Zabuza.

Haku lightly caressed his cheek, and turned his head towards her before placing a kiss full of love upon his lips. Even though there was no tongue involved the kiss was quite potent as the feelings they had for each other could be felt. As the kiss went on Naruto's arms slipped around Haku's waist, and pulled her tightly against him. Haku moaned into the kiss, and moved her hand from his cheek into his hair as her free hand settled between his shoulder blades. After what could have been an instant or an eternity they broke the kiss breathing heavily from the lack of oxygen, and stared into each others' eyes. A few minutes later when Haku had gotten control of herself enough for her face to be only slightly flush she smiled softly taking his hand in hers as she stood up.

"Let's go to bed….Watashi no otto."

Hearing the way she spoke that single word made Naruto's heart swell with joy, and his eyes to glisten with moisture. "I love you…Wife." His voice breaking from the emotions as he tightened his grip on her hand, and getting a smile from Haku that could only be described as angelic. Naruto followed her into the bedroom where Haku stopped by the bed and turned to face him. There they stood neither seeing nor caring about the world around them as they stared lovingly into each others' eyes. Slowly they gravitated towards each other not even realizing it until their noses were almost touching. Soft as a feather's touch Naruto's hands made their way to her hips, as Haku's came to rest on his upper arms. Still as statues in the moonlight they stood like this until Naruto spoke as gentle and quiet as a butterfly's kiss. "Beautiful."

So lost in each other's eyes they neither noticed nor cared that their hands had started to move, as if of their own volition, to slowly undress each other. As the light of the moon shifted position through the room, the time passed unnoticed by the lovers. Letting down all barriers, and inhibitions between them with their hands softly caressing and roaming their bodies the soft song of their love for each other sounded though the night. If any being had been present to hear they would have heard a song so divine, pure and sacred it would have brought them to tears as the lovers not only joined in body as their hearts had, but in soul as well. Describing what happened in that room as sex would be a sin of the gravest sort. The way that their bodies, hearts, and souls danced together in such harmony even the gods would call perfection.

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It had been nearly a week since the meeting with the Hyuuga clan had happened that the group of Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton arrived at the village. In short order they were ushered into Hiruzen's office, and after the usual pleasantries they got down to business.

Withdrawing the medical report from her top Tsunade threw it onto the Hokage's desk. "Start talking, Sensei."

Hiruzen sighed, and lit his pipe before speaking. "I have no idea how or why, but the contents of that report are all true. I had my personal physician run the tests 5 times just to make sure, and they came out the same every time. That young man is your son."

Tsunade had been watching the old man like a hawk for any sign of deceit, and found none. As the truth of the matter settled into her mind she slowly sat in one of the chairs feeling the weight of her age. "How is that possible? I know for a fact I've never been pregnant. Shizune even ran scans on me to make sure. Not only that, but she was my apprentice back then, and would know if I had given birth."

"I honestly don't know, Tsunade. You know just as much about the situation as I do if not more. The only thing else I can do is tell you about him."

Tsunade perked up slightly hearing this. "Who is this boy anyway? The report has almost no information about him, and Jiraiya refused to say anything either."

"There is a very good reason for that, Tsunade. As I'm sure you are aware we couldn't let documentation of his identity out beyond the walls of the village until we knew the truth ourselves because of the chance of assassination or kidnapping attempts. Our security has grown far too lax since the end of the 3rd Great War, so the only ones that even know about this are the people in this room, the doctor, the boy himself, and at most 2-3 others." Hiruzen said seriously.

The looks of pain on Tsunade and Shizune's faces as they envisioned just such a scenario spoke very loudly about the necessity of such a high level of secrecy. "I understand, sensei, but you can tell me about him now right?"

Hiruzen chuckled with a smile. "Yes, and I can tell you he used to be quite the hellion in his younger days. He would pull pranks, and lead the ANBU and a merry chase around the village until his academy instructor caught him." His smile faded slightly has he thought about the way things have been between Naruto and him since his return from Nami no Kuni. "Even though I am proud of him as a ninja and all that he accomplished since he graduated there is little I could tell you about the man he has become since then. His wife would be much better to ask about that."

The surprise of hearing that the boy was married showed clearly on the faces of those infront of the old man. "WHAT!? When the hell did he get married?" Jiraiya shouted out.

The Hokage chuckled slightly at the reactions. "It seems he's been married since before he returned from his A rank mission."

This time a squeak of shock was heard from Shizune as Tsunade stood so quickly her chair fell over. "What the hell is a genin doing on an A rank?!"

"Calm down, Tsunade, and I'll explain. A bridge builder had commissioned a C rank bodyguard mission until he finished building the bridge he was working on. As it turns out the client lied, and Naruto, and his team ended up facing the Oni Kyōdai as well as Momochi Zabuza the Kirigakure no Kijin and his adopted daughter Haku." Hiruzen let them deal with that information before continuing. "After a series of interesting events that are better told by someone else, Zabuza and the client tricked Haku and Naruto into signing the marriage papers in order to protect Haku from some of the more unscrupulous practices hidden villages have for females with a bloodline."

The reactions to this were easily predictable as Jiraiya's face became very stern and disapproving, Shizune paled with a gasp, and Tsunade looked about ready to explode. After a few minutes for everyone to calm down, the old man broke the silence. "Why don't we go to their house so you can meet them?"

Shizune looked to her master as she stood up. "That sounds good to me. I want to meet this boy."

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A little while later the group arrived at a nice 2 story house that looked like it could house around 10 people. Hiruzen knocked on the door and patiently waited as the others looked around the outside of the house. A few short minutes later a girl with dark blue hair standing about 5'2 answered the door. Seeing who was there she bowed deeply before addressing the group.

"Gomen, Hokage-sama. If I had known you would be arriving I would have greeted you sooner." Hinata said blushing slightly in embarrassment.

The old man smiled at the girl. "It's alright, Hinata. Our visit was not planned after all. Is Naruto and Haku in?"

"Gomenasai. Naruto-dono and Haku-dono are not home. Zabuza-sama is home if you wish to speak with him, Hokage-sama?" The girl asked meekly.

"That will be fine, Hinata. Could you take us to him?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Please follow me." Hinata said as she stepped aside for them to enter.

The group followed her through the house until they reached a room at the back. Hinata kneeled by the door and softly tapped on the shoji door so as not to disturb the occupant. "Zabuza-sama, Hokage-sama and 3 others wish to speak with you."

The sound of papers being shuffled, and a grunt was heard before Zabuza spoke. "You can let them in, Hinata, and bring us some tea."

"Hai, Zabuza-sama." The teen replied before sliding the door open for the guests. Once they were all in the room she slid the door closed before heading off to get the tea.

Once the group was inside the room they saw that it was an office with shelves filled with papers, and a few scrolls scattered about. At the desk sat Zabuza who was putting a scroll into a drawer on the desk.

"I trust we didn't catch you at a bad time, Zabuza?" The old man asked the one armed ex-nukenin.

"Naw. I could use the break from all the damn paperwork. So what did you come over for?"

"Before I get to that let me introduce the people with me. This is Jiraiya the Gama-Sennin. The blonde is Konoha no Namekuji Senju Tsunade-hime. The brunette by her side is Kato Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice." Feeling left out the picked gave an indignant oink causing Hiruzen to chuckle. "Of course we can't forget the pig in Shizune's arms. Her name is Tonton."

Zabuza nodded to each one as they were introduced before turning his eyes back to the Hokage. "So these are the ones we've been waiting on. It's about time they showed up."

Hiruzen settled into a chair across from Zabuza, and gestured for the others to do the same. "Yes it did take longer than expected, but you should know how are it is to find someone that doesn't wish to be found. Now that we are all here we can get down to business."

Zabuza grunted but before he could say something there was a tap on the shoji. "I have brought the tea, Zabuza-sama." Hinata could be heard saying through the rice paper.

"You can come in, Hinata."

With the grace granted her from her training as heiress, and for the juken the girl entered the office, to serve her new clan's regent. After she had given Zabuza his tea she then did the same for Hiruzen, followed by Tsunade then Jiraiya, and lastly Shizune.

"You can leave the tea set here, Hinata. Since it looks like I'll be stuck in here all day you can bring me dinner in here." Zabuza said as the girl reached for the tea set.

Hinata bowed low with her hands clasped infront of her. "As you wish. Is there anything else you require of me, Zabuza-sama?"

"No. After you finish your duties you can have the rest of the day off until dinner."

"Arigato, Zabuza-sama." Hinata said before bowing to the others, and taking her leave.

While Hinata had been serving the tea Tsunade had watched her out of curiosity, and finally voiced a question about her after the door slid shut. "Who is she, and how the hell did you get a Hyuuga servant?"

Zabuza grunted turning a glare on the Hokage. "Ask the old man since it's his fault she's even here in the first place."

Hiruzen sighed and set his cup down. "Hinata has had a crush on Naruto for years, and when she found out he was involved with Haku she reacted badly. Her father Hiashi wanted them to marry so she wouldn't have to bare the Cage Bird Seal, save clan honor, and in an attempt to give her some kind of happiness. As you can tell it didn't quite work out the way he wanted. Instead of being Naruto's second wife she is an adopted member of the Yuki clan, and Haku's personal servant."

"What a second! Are you telling me that the Heiress of the Hyuuga clan is nothing more than an unpaid geisha now?" Tsunade exclaimed getting a nod in response. "How the hell did that happen?!"

Zabuza grunted before answering with a scowl. "She broke into Naruto's old place and tried to attack Haku. She's lucky Naruto didn't kill her. When we had the meeting with the Hyuuga about the possible marriage Haku suggested this as an alternative since Naruto absolutely refused to marry her."

"Are you kidding?! She would have done anything he wanted her to do." Jiraiya said as he began to bemoan the loss of research causing Tsunade to growl at him.

Deciding to change the subject before Jiraiya got put through another wall Hiruzen addressed Zabuza. "Where are Haku and Naruto at?"

Not moving his glare from the Sannin Zabuza growled at the pervert and slug summoner. "You break it you buy it." Once he saw them settle down he turned to Hiruzen. "They are in Wave for their honeymoon, and to train for the finals in peace."

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Far to the south of Konoha near the border of Kawa no Kuni Naruto and Haku were nearly to the bridge to Nami no Kuni. Naruto was wearing black pants, a burnt orange shirt, his normal blue shinobi sandals, and carrying a large pack on his back. Haku was dressed in black bell bottom pants with a light purple belt, grey sandals, a silver sleeveless shirt that showed her stomach, a loose tie the same color of her belt, and black arm sleeves that went from her wrists to just above her elbows. Nearing the edge of the forest the slowed down and dropped from the trees and admired the bridge for a few moments before starting across it. After only a few steps Haku slipped her hand into Naruto's and leaned against his side as they continued to walk at a civilian's pace. Naruto turned to look at her with a smile and lightly kissed her cheek.

"Are you sure about this, my love? We can have our honeymoon after the Exams."

Haku nodded slightly with a soft smile on her lips. "I'm sure, koibito. You deserve the break with all the training you've been doing, and I want to spend time with just us enjoying ourselves."

Naruto gave a slight squeeze to Haku's hand as he smiled at her. "I still have to train at least a little while we're here, Yome. I just wish we didn't have to head back in 2 weeks."

Haku sighed as her smile dropped slightly. "I know, anata, but the only reason we have the time now is because of the Exam finals. Who knows how much time we'll get to spend together once you start taking missions again, and my duties at the hospital increase."

Hearing the sadness in her voice Naruto stopped walking and turned to face her before pulling her into a hug. "Haku-chan, I would like nothing more than to spend every minute of every day with you, but what kind of husband would I be if I could not provide for my wife? As much as it hurts to be apart, it makes the time we do spend together that much more precious."

Haku leaning into Naruto, and nuzzled her face into his neck. "Even when talking about something so depressing you know how to make me feel better." After several moments she broke the embrace, and took his hand again. "Let's go, koishii. The sooner we check into a hotel the sooner we can enjoy our honeymoon."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh causing Haku's smile to grow, and the next thing she knew his laughing had increased as she was scooped up bridal style with Naruto running across the bridge towards the village.

A few hours later the couple could be seen walking through town with no real purpose other than to do something together that doesn't involve a bed. Roaming around the town they could tell that the people were much happier than they were before Gato's death. As chance would have it a familiar face spotted them, and smiled at how they were acting together before she approached them.

"Naruto-kun, Haku-chan, it's nice to see you again." The woman said carrying a basket of groceries.

The couple turned to the woman, and smiled seeing who it was. "Tsunami-chan! It's good to see you. How have you been?" Naruto said with his arm around Haku's waist.

"I've been good. Things have been so much better since you, and your team freed us from Gato. Inari is happier than ever, and otou-san is busy with all the work available now." A glimmer entered her eyes as she looked over the teens. "Sooo….Why don't you tell me how you two got so close?"

Naruto and Haku looked at each other sharing a smile before Haku placed a hand on his chest and kissed him. "What can I say? He is my soulmate. Isn't that right, shujin?"

While Tsunami's eyes widened upon hearing what Haku had called Naruto the boy merely chuckled. "I would say it goes beyond that, wakakokoro."

Hearing this and seeing the way they looked at each other Tsunami just had to find out the details. Realizing that the middle of the road was no place for it she quickly thought about what to do before coming up with an idea. "Why don't you come over for dinner? I'm sure otou-san and Inari would love to catch up with you."

Naruto looked to Haku and shrugged letting her know it was her choice. "That sounds nice. Neither of us have had a good home cooked meal since we left Konoha."

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After her talk with Asuma Ino had been spending a lot of time reassessing everything she though she knew as well as her ninja career. The death of Sasuke at the preliminary fights while emotionally crushing to the girl only served to drive home how wrong she was about the life of a ninja. Over the last week she had looked around her seeing details she never had before, and it made her wonder if she was cut out to be a ninja. As these realizations and doubts went through her mind she about the experienced ninja she knew. Sarutobi Asuma, son of Sarutobi Hiruzen the Kami no Shinobi, surviving member of the 12 Guardian Ninja to the Daimyo. Morino Ibiki, head of the I&T division of ANBU. Mitirashi Anko, tokubetsu-jonin, ex-apprentice of Orochimaru of the Densetsu no Sannin, and 3rd in command of I&T. Her own father Yamanaka Inoichi, member of the famed Ino-Shika-Cho trio, 2nd in command or I&T, jonin, and clan head. Akimichi Choza, 15th head of the Akimichi clan, jonin, a true powerhouse able to crush enemies with ease yet loving and kind hearted. Nara Shikaku, clan head of the Nara, jonin commander second only to the Hokage himself, merciless, cunning, and ruthless in battle, yet compassionate to his allies and friends. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Shinobi no Kami, Sandaime Hokage, student of the first and second Hokage's, teacher of the Sannin, said to be the strongest of all the Kage, and so much more. Hatake Kakashi, elite jonin, master of 1000 jutsu, student of the Yondaime Hokage, son of Hatake Sakumo the White Fang.

Try as she might she could not reconcile in her head how the people she knew in daily life so well could be the way they were described by other ninja. Sighing deeply she shook her head to clear such weighty thoughts. Taking a look around her room she realized how naïve she was about the ninja world, and resolved to change that before deciding on what she should do with not only her career, but also her life in general. Figuring the best way to find out the truth she headed off to have a long talk with her father with a more determined step than before.

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End file.
